Regina Caverson, Louis Gliksman, Ray Kinoshameg, Pat Rogerson, Cindy Smythe, Ronald R. Douglas

Methods of conveying health information, in particular to Native people, have also not been overwhelmingly successful as they too often lacked suitable content and/or medium. Most of these health interventions, used in the school system and in the general community, have also been used with Native people but seldom incorporated Native needs or values.

This concern about the lack of Native cultural content was emphasized in the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program’s (NNADAP) Ontario Region Needs Assessment Study (Chiefs of Ontario, 1985). This report stated that "educational materials are seldom translated into Native languages, nor are they appropriate to the cultural experiences of Native people." Consequently, "Native people of all ages do not realize the dangerous effects [of alcohol and other drugs] until they have developed a serious addiction or until a crisis occurs."

In an effort to help Native people avoid reaching this "crisis" state, a live theatrical performance was proposed as a medium to increase awareness of issues related to both alcohol and drug abuse. A similar approach has been utilized in Botswana, South Africa where theatre was used to examine a variety of social and health issues. Kidd and Byram’s (1977) evaluation indicates that theatre "provides a reflection of social reality. The act of seeing one’s own situation through this dramatic representation provides the stimulus for thinking seriously about this situation." This observation is supported by Chiefs, Band Council members and Community Health Representatives who also suggest that theatre is similar to dance and storytelling. It reflects a traditional Native approach to educating Native youth to the values, culture and ways of the elders thus confirming the appropriateness of its use.

In reviewing the literature, it should be noted that only a few other organizations throughout the world have utilized theatre to convey health messages. Productions specifically related to alcohol are uncommon. Some worthy of note are the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission’s (AADAC) sponsorship of "Drinks Before Dinner" (Sawaka and Hewitt 1978) and the "Black Creek Project" (Barnet, Bossio and Osler 1978), the Family Services Association of America’s publication of "Message in a Bottle" (Davidson 1977) and the Addiction Research Foundation’s (ARF) tour of "Booze" (Douglas 1980, Moffat 1983). "Booze," which consisted of a series of five satirical skits portraying student drug use (Sallows, 1983), was found to have a positive short term impact on attitudes and behaviour towards alcohol use (Gliksman et al., 1983).

Some performances (although not all alcohol related) have been particularly targeted at isolated and rural groups. These include the previously mentioned Developmental Theatre Project in Botswana and the Medicine Showmen in Mexico (Simoni et al., 1982). The latter group used theatre to educate women on nutrition and breast-feeding.

Since there appears to be an absence of theatre projects involving Native people and alcohol abuse, the use of theatre to convey this information appears to be novel in its focus. A coalition involving the Addiction Research Foundation, the N’Swakamok Friendship Centre and the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (NNADAP) was formed to explore and develop such a live theatrical performance. As well, the support of community specialists was accessed through the formation of a community advisory board. The community advisory board consisted of expert resources in the field. These resources included representation from: (a) theatre—the Sudbury Theatre Center and the Sudbury Arts Festival Association, (b) Native people the Native Studies Program at Laurentian University, the N’Swakamok Friendship Centre, and (c) addictions—the Addiction Research Foundation and the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program.

After the formation of the board, funding was obtained from NNADAP. Three project staff were hired to write the script, manage all facets of the project, and direct the play. In keeping with the belief that the play be culturally appropriate, Native people in the Sudbury, Ontario area were involved in the development, design and production of the play where possible. They also formed the entire cast of performers.

After many discussions with Native people and the community advisory board about addictions, Native playwright Thomson Highway wrote the play Jukebox Lady. Jukebox Lady highlights the struggles of an Indian woman’s life in an urban setting. The Indian woman, Marie, grew up on a small Indian Reserve in Northern Ontario, Canada. She was sent away to school in an urban community. Even though she never returns to her Native homeland, the ways of her people come back to her during various daydream scenes. She has two children and is married to an Indian man who is seldom home as a result of his job. Being torn between her home, her family and the ways of her people, she turns to the bar for escape. Since the woman is the nucleus in a Native family, her drinking affects her children’s use of drugs (including solvents) as well as her relationship with her husband, her parents, her peers and her job. Each scene depicts her increased frustration with life and her gradual loss of everything of importance to her as a result of alcohol abuse.

Throughout the one and one half hour play, the Native spiritual character Nanabush mocks Marie and her behaviour. Nearing the end, Marie comes face to face with herself to decide her fate which is never to be known to the audience.

During the summer months of 1985, the production Jukebox Lady was performed 16 times throughout Northern Ontario Reserves. The troupe performed primarily in community halls on the various Reserves. Audience turnout and response grew with each performance. In addition, three performances were held in the City of Sudbury. In total, approximately 2,000 Native and some non-Native people had an opportunity to view the play.

Various media were used to promote the play including radio, television, posters, and the Friendship Centres and Band Offices. It appeared that the "grapevine" was, however, the most successful in informing people about performances—apparently the result of effective promotional efforts by the project manager and members of the cast. Although the play was developed to consciously focus the viewers’ attention on alcohol abuse, the performance was promoted on its entertainment value and not on the alcohol abuse theme.

The primary purpose of the evaluation was to determine the suitability and acceptability of using a live theatrical performance to develop awareness of alcohol related issues for Native people. The evaluation was conducted in two phases. First, a count was maintained of the number of people viewing each of the performances. Even though informal in nature, the director and the project manager also kept a subjective record of the receptivity of each Native audience, i.e., laughter in appropriate places, applause, leaving performance, etc. to give a general picture of Native receptivity.

The second part of the evaluation was conducted by means of two short questionnaires. Every eighth or tenth person was randomly asked to fill in a brief questionnaire which assessed his/her reaction to the play. At large audiences, 1 of 10 was asked to respond while for smaller audiences 1 of 8 responded. Questions were not asked about the alcohol theme because of concern about possible reluctance to discuss alcohol issues. The selected people were handed a questionnaire as they entered for the play and were asked to fill it in at the end of the play. Completed questionnaires were retrieved after each performance. The questionnaire consisted of six questions with yes/no answers and one question which required checking all that applied.

The second questionnaire was developed for key informants on each Reserve. Key informants included Chiefs, Band Council members, NNADAP workers and Community Health Representatives. Answers for this short questionnaire were on a five-point scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. This questionnaire was used primarily to measure reactions to the play and perceptions about its appropriateness and utility.

Results
a) Observations:

Based on the head count conducted at the beginning of each performance, approximately 2,000 people in total attended the various performances. Of this 2,000, approximately 350 people attended a "by invitation only" performance and were not included in the evaluation results. Depending on the size of the Reserve populations, audiences ranged in numbers from 30 to 300. Observations included: number of people returning after the first act, periods of silence, inappropriate/appropriate laughter, applause, number in attendance relative to size of Reserve, age variations, general attentiveness and receptivity after the performance.

In examining the information that was gathered through observation, response to the production by Native people in each audience was positive. Relatively few people left after the first act. Periods of silence, applause and laughter varied for each Reserve. On some occasions, the reaction of the audience was initially perceived as unsuitable for the scene being performed. For example they would laugh in what seemed to be inappropriate places, such as a dramatic scene. However, this is being interpreted as a nervous reaction since some of the issues being presented on stage may have too closely mirrored a viewer’s lifestyle.

The age range of those attending also varied on each Reserve. Some performances had a mix of very young as well as elders in the audience. Attentiveness during the performance and receptivity after the play was positive at all performances.

b) Questionnaire:

1) General Audience Response. A total of 139 people filled out the audience questionnaire. This represents approximately 8% of the total number of viewers. It is important to keep in mind that an additional 65 people filled out the key informant questionnaire, thus bringing the total number of respondents to 204 people or 12% of the audience.

However, for the general audience response, each Reserve was well represented. The average age of the respondents was 29. The most frequently reported ages were 16 and 18. In collating the results it was found that of 139 respondents: 100% indicated they enjoyed the play, 99% indicated they would like to see a similar play, 97% felt their friends would like this play, 93% felt this play was not too long, 95% indicated they did not get bored watching this play and 93% reported they found the play easy to understand.

The audience further indicated that they found out about the play from a number of sources: 50% from a friend, 41% from the band office, 32% from a poster, 16% from other sources (family, NNADAP worker, newsletter or performer) 15% from newspapers, 10% from the Friendship Centre, 3% from the radio and 1% from television. These results indicate that while the grapevine is integral, a variety of other advertising media are also important. They also show that people heard about the play from more than one source since the percentages add up to more than one hundred percent.

In addition to the questionnaire, there were some positive responses which appeared at the bottom of six of the questionnaires. Some of the responses included comments such as, "I can identify with some parts in the play," "the play was interesting and different," "some parts gave me goosebumps," "I identify with Marie so well" and "excellent play."

2) Key Informant Response. A sample of 65 key informants from the Native community filled out the second questionnaire. Key informants included Chiefs, Band Council members, Community Health Representatives, and NNADAP workers. Informants were asked to indicate agreement or disagreement with five statements on a series of five-point scales with alternatives ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.

Of the 65 key informants surveyed: (1) 100% agreed this play was a good way to present alcohol and drug problems to the audience--everyone responded positively; (2) 98% agreed they would encourage people on their reserve to see this play; 2% responded negatively; (3) 88% agreed that children in the audience could identify with the characters in the play while 8% were undecided--4% felt that children could not identify with the play’s characters; (4) 83% felt the audience understood the symbolism of the play; 14% were undecided and 3% felt the audience could not understand the play’s symbolism; and (5) 98% agreed more plays about social problems should be shown; 2% responded that they should not be used. As with the general audience, there were comments at the end of some of the questionnaires. All were positive in terms of response.

As indicated by the title of this paper, the goal of this endeavor was to determine Native people’s receptivity to a live theatrical performance that focused on alcohol abuse, primarily through the performance of the play Jukebox Lady.

According to Brandt (1982) members of a Native family view themselves as being individually responsible for themselves and their behaviour. Brandt adds that, blended with this, there is a strong concept of "non-interference" which is common in Native life. Laying blame or judging someone’s behaviour may be perceived as though you are better than the person you are criticizing, which is unacceptable.

Similarly, the Native community functions in an identical manner to the family, since it is considered an extension of the family unit. All members of the Native community are viewed as brothers and sisters. Thus, the same rules that apply to "non-interference" and nonjudgement pertain. Again, there is reluctance to openly criticize each other, much less interfere with another person’s behaviour such as excessive drinking. It appears, then, that the culturally appropriate means of addressing this issue is with a nondirective approach. Traditionally in the Native culture this would involve story telling.

While these traditional values and approaches to teaching have been somewhat eroded due to the rapid growth of our technological society, high attendance at all performances and positive audience response by Native people support the belief that theatre is a culturally appropriate vehicle for dealing with health issues. More specifically in the case of Jukebox Lady, it appears that the play was an acceptable means for focusing on the problem of alcohol abuse for Native people.

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