We're still at a place where we're putting up our own lights. As I said, I started on the Canadian fringe circuit, and I think uniquely because I'm from Saskatchewan, I was able to access Creative Saskatchewan's touring funding to support that Canadian fringe tour, and we could ourselves a living wage, because otherwise we're making lunch money. From there I was able to scale my work up, hire other people to come on as directors or outside eyes; I think lots of artists have to keep it in the basement of a burrito restaurant. That funding doesn't exist in other provinces, so lots of other artists can't take their work from those fringe spaces to a more professional stage or invest in tech, other people, outside eyes and even marketing, which is so important when you're trying to stand out in these big festivals of 4,000 shows. That was the bottom rung.
With the Creative Sask funding, I was able to make another show and then start sneaking my toes into international venues. I think I am not a unique artist in that it wasn't until I took my work abroad that I got recognition at home and doors opened to me back at home. They were completely shut to me for a very long time, until I was getting reviews from abroad. I could then take them it to venues and go, “See, The Guardian loves us. Please let us into your space.”
I'm currently in this weird middle space in which I'm not quite emerging anymore, but I'm not quite established. Yes, I'm still putting lights up in my own venue, but that's okay. That's a bit of the bottom rung.
If I wasn't able to access that provincial funding, and then eventually Canada Council funding and Canadian Heritage funding, I would never have been able to continue to tour, scale up my work and take those creative risks that have resonated so deeply with audiences around the world.
Speaking to what is “Canadian” about this Canadian heritage, we don't expect work from the U.K. to speak about the Queen or work from the States to speak about the founding fathers. We have this weird pressure as Canadian artists in which we always have to be speaking about our history or where we come from. Some of the work that has broken through from Canada—things like The Kids in the Hall; a movie called Dead Lover, which been sweeping the indie film circuit; and Nirvana the Band the Show—are weird pieces of our realities and our life. It's not always a historical play. Yes, I think encouraging funding for work that is unexpectedly Canadian....