Women of the Fur Trade
Theatrical History in our Own Backyard
By Taylor Onski
Closing out Magnus Theatre’s 2024–2025 season is Frances Koncan’s Women of the Fur Trade, a historical satire inspired by David Lynch, Hamilton, and the fur trade.
“I was trying to find a story that spoke to me and I could tell in an interesting way,” says Koncan, a member of Couchiching First Nation. “I was inspired by the experiences of not a specific ancestor, but just knowing I had family who lived through that time period.”
Set in the prairies amidst the last days of Louis Riel’s life, Women of the Fur Trade follows three women trapped in a fort: Cecilia, a British woman who longs for her husband’s return, Marie-Angelique, a Métis woman who wants to marry Riel, and Eugenia, an Ojibwe woman who hates men in general, particularly John A. MacDonald. Throughout the play, the women confide in each other about their place in this ever-changing world, all the while moments of romantic comedy, murder mystery, and contemporary pop culture references turn the idea of a historical play on its head.
“Early on, it was making sure the history was not necessarily historian-level accurate, but accurate enough,” says Koncan. “Once that was in place, that’s when it got really fun. The time period I was writing it in had similarities to the late 1800s of what women may be feeling or thinking. You just have to use the right language for it. But it’s still the same fundamental feelings of fear, panic, anxiety, curiosity.”
Women of the Fur Trade won the Toronto Fringe Festival’s playwriting contest before having its sold-out premiere in February 2020 at the Royal Manitoba Theatre. For it to come to Magnus Theatre in Thunder Bay, a professional theatre in a place with close fur trade ties, Koncan could not be more thrilled.
“It’s exciting that other places get to see experimental work they might not normally see,” says Koncan. “When we hear about history, people immediately think they cannot sit through it. But with [Women of the Fur Trade], I hope people see it and realize we can talk and think about history in new ways, that history repeats itself over and over, and history kind of [helps us] navigate our future.”
Women of the Fur Trade runs from April 10–26 at Magnus Theatre.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit magnustheatre.com or call 807-345-5552.