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Treading Water is an innovative 20-minute play that brings to life some of the rich stories discovered during our community collaborations. The play flows between the intersecting narratives of characters in
a community dealing with unsafe drinking water, and explores steps toward health and well-being related to water quality challenges. Water operators and their experiences are central in Treading Water, and the play illustrates their pivotal and complex role in the community. Presented by engineers, water operators and actors, the play aims to open conversations addressing water quality and health issues facing rural and Indigenous communities in the 21st century.

Treading Water was performed at various events throughout 2019; the last of the series was performed in front of over 150 water First Nations water operators of BC andYukon at the 12th Annual BC & YT First Nation Water & WastewaterOperational Excellence Conference in October 2019.

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Treading Water Theatre Team

1.      (Left, playing operator)Patricia M. Barkaskas, Academic Director, Indigenous Community Legal Clinic,UBC

2.      (Right, playing researcher) Tetsuro Shigematsu, playwright, actor, broadcaster and theatre artist, UBC

3.      George Belliveau, Head of the Language and Literacy Education Department, UBC

4.      Chris Cook, therapist, playwright and theatre creator, UBC

5.      Jennica Nichols, EvaluationConsultant, PhD students, UBC

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