Synopsis

Prairie Tomten, about a 12 year-old girl and her friendship with an elderly Aboriginal man called Mr. Bitternose. Love addresses issues of bullying both large and small as she weaves together the story of Laura—and her attempt to protect a feral cat from the “Town Girls,” who seem to enjoy tormenting her with little or no motivation—and the story of Mr. Bitternose. “Mr. B” seems to know more than he wishes to remember or to tell about the “starlight rides” given to Natives by police officers who dump their passengers on the outskirts of town, sometimes in the dead of winter, to find their way home on foot. The scandal of the freezing death of a young man in this manner underscores the play.