INUKTITUT WAiting for Godot
A Volcano (Toronto) and 662 OVA (Iqaluit) collaboration
Script by Samuel Beckett, translated by Ruth Angutiqjuaq, Tatanniq
Idlout, Carol Kunnuk, Kaitaasi Peter and Mary Petooloosie
The Story
The Inuktitut Waiting for Godot is a project conceived by Nunavut-based Inuit artist Tatanniq Lucie Idlout, who, along with her collective 662 OVA, is working with Volcano to develop a translation and production of Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece in the most widely spoken indigenous language of the North. Five translators are bringing the project into a nuanced and powerful Inuktitut version: Ruth Angutiqjuaq; Tatanniq Idlout; Carol Saqpinaq Kunnuk; Mary Petooloosie and Kaitaasi Peter.
Tatanniq writes:
“I developed a deep connection to Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece when I was eighteen. Beckett didn’t know anything about the North. But he knew hardship and horror. He grew up in a place with much poverty. Beckett never visited Nunavut, but for me, Waiting for Godot is somehow the most contemporary Inuit story I know: the relationship of powerlessness to power; the place of humour in dealing with a hard life; the idea of endless waiting; the disappointment; the need for patience; and the adversity the main characters face everyday of their lives. Although the play itself is not political, it can act as a metaphor in the Inuit context: reflecting the historical relationship between the government and Inuit across Canada, and connecting easily to some of the issues we face in the north, such as the residential school horror, and the extreme environmental imbalance that Inuit live with first-hand. So Beckett’s play seems a potent way to connect Inuit to the south, and – through touring – also connect the wider world to the plight of Inuit: a people who have much in common with the characters in Beckett’s landscape."
Workshop photography and videography by John Lauener and Ross Manson
Music for video trailer: Sounds of Sadness by Tatanniq Lucie Idlout
Our Team
SPECIAL THANKS
For the generosity, wisdom and knowledge they shared with us in Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), and Igloolik during Volcano’s summer 2021 research trip, we would like to thank elders Susan Avingak, Niawuttiaq David Irngaut and Regalee Ootook. For their supremely good hosting (!) in Mittimatalik, Igloolik and Iqaluit, we would also like to thank Zacharias Kunuk, Teena Kakee, Edward Atkinson and the many people we met along the way who offered advice and help.
OUR PARTNERS
Inuktitut Waiting for Godot is undertaken in partnership with 662 OVA, with the financial support of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Government of Nunavut, and the Community Tourism and Cultural Industries Program.
Volcano’s New Work Development Partner is:
Volcano’s Professional Development Partner for the Inkutitut Waiting for Godot is:
Made possible by a Grant from the National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada:
