Written by TAI AMY GRAUMAN
Co-Directed by CHRIS MCGREGOR and AMANDA TESTINI
A Métis love-story that transcends time to safeguard history.
Two star people and a Buffalo, fall to earth and continue to reconnect throughout history. Where Have All The Buffalo Gone? explores seven different periods of Métis history, beginning during creation amongst the stars and ending in the present day, sharing stories from the Callihoo family, and incorporating fiddle music, jigging and a life-like buffalo puppet. Inspired by historical events of the Métis people of Canada, this original play for young audiences explores the loves, the losses, and the fight of Métis people of the Treaty 6 area – and their love and kinship to the buffalo.
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*All Kaleidoscope MainStage productions and presentations are created, managed, presented, and performed by adult professionals.
Kaleidoscope Theatre for Young People and Axis Theatre Company are members of the Professional Association of CanadianTheatres and engage professional Artists who are members of Canadian Actors’Equity Association under the terms of the jointly negotiated Canadian Theatre Agreement.
Chris is a third generation settler from Scotland and England. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from Bishop’s University and a Masters in Theatre in Directing from the University of British Columbia. He has taught physical theatre, Commedia dell’arte, mask and Red Nose Clown at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Bishop’s University and Studio 58. He has directed more than 60 productions across Canada, has won four Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards and been nominated for three Ovation Awards for directing. Chris has adapted the children’s books: SOMEBODY LOVES YOU, MR. HATCH, FROG BELLY RAT BONE and CRY, HEART, BUT NEVER BREAK into puppets plays for the stage.
Amanda Testini (she/her) is an Italian-Canadian choreographer and director based on the unceded and ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Amanda has worked with Arts Club Theatre Company, Bard on the Beach, the Cultch, Theatre Replacement, Firehall Arts Centre, Belfry Theatre, Gateway Theatre, Savage Society, Theatre Under the Stars, shameless hussy productions, Neworld Theatre, Studio 58, TheatreUBC, Electric Company, Vancouver Opera, Axis Theatre, the Glimmerglass Festival, and Edmonton Opera. After working on three iterations of Tai’s You Used to Call Me Marie, she is grateful to be directing Where Have All The Buffalo Gone? With Chris McGreggor and Axis Theatre.
Kassandra is a Métis/Ukrainian actor from Winnipeg, Manitoba — Treaty 1 Territory and the homeland of the Red River Métis — currently based on the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She is deeply honoured to join the team bringing this beautiful script to life. Previous credits include Damion LeClair’s ROUGAROU, Pivot Theatre’s Moonglow (2024 Theatre BC Mainstage Award for Best Supporting Actress), Doin’ Time at the Alamo and Aboveboard (North Van Community Players), and Five Alarm (Deep Cove Stage Society).
Izzy is very excited to be playing Jean/Ensemble. They are originally from Treaty 7 territory, Mohkinstsis (Calgary, Alberta) belonging to the Siksika Nation. They’re also a studio 58 Graduate, Their previous credits there include: TomorrowLove, Cerulean Blue, EVERYBODY, The Rocky Horror Show, and their play Old Man Little Man. Since graduating they have had the pleasure of working on a couple of projects which include, The Tour of The Mixolydian with Green Thumb Theatre,
The Tour of Th’owxiya with Axis Theatre and a world premier of Echoes of the Homesick Heart with Western Canada Theatre.
Samantha is thrilled to be a part of Where Have All the Buffalo Gone? with Axis Theatre! She is grateful to be living and working on the traditional and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Sam has been passionate about performing since she was a toddler, using every opportunity to express herself through acting, singing, movement and music. Since graduating from the Acting program at Studio 58, she has produced original theatre productions and films, and is excited to continue crafting original work for the stage and screen, empowering the female voice. Recent theatre credits include: BFF-less (Roomie Productions), Blood Wedding, and The Tempest (Studio 58).
Jessica Adamson hails from the Skatin Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. She is an artist with a degree from UBC in Indigenous Studies as well as First Nations Endangered languages. She has worked as a performer and in production for festivals such as The Talking Stick Festival, The Drum is Calling, The Vancouver Folk Festival, The Vancouver International Children’s Festival, and The Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Stage management in theater has included So Damn Proud (Holy Crow Arts), The Ballad of Georges Boivin (Western Gold Theatre), White Noise (Savage Society), and White Girls in Moccasins (Frank Theatre).
Tai Amy Grauman (MFA) is Métis Cree with ties to Haudenosaunee voyageurs from Ardrossan, Alberta. She is a Callihoo as well as a Beauregard and her family comes from a community in Alberta formerly known as St. Paul des Métis. She is the first elected Provincial Women’s Representative as part of the first Otipemisiawk Government (Métis Government) within Alberta as well as the secretary of advancement of women and girls. Tai is a playwright, actor, director and producer.
Dusty Hagerüd, a member of the Ktunaxa/Kinbasket people of the Lower East Kootenays, has been obsessed with the animated object from childhood. A puppeteer, puppet designer and fabricator at Color Sound Lab, Dusty has been performing and designing in Puppetry for 25 years in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver in theatre, advertising, film and television. He was brought on Nickelodeon’s “The Barbarian and the Troll” as Puppet Wrangler and On Location Puppet Fabricator. He followed that in the same roles with The Jim Henson Creature Shop on Fraggle Rock Back To The Rock.
Alaia is a Vancouver theatre designer originally from the Gulf Islands. Recent projects she has worked on include costume design for Million Dollar Quartet, The Cull, Beneath Springhill, The Birds and the Bees (Artsclub), The East Van Panto: Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid (Theatre Replacement), HMS Pinafore, Carmen Up Close and Personal (Vancouver Opera), costume design for Beautiful Man (PI Theatre), set design for God Said This (Pacific Theatre), Seventeen (Western Gold). She has worked on a variety of smaller shows through Vancouver and has a passion for costuming dance. Alaia is a graduate of the UBC Theatre Design program in 2017 and holds an English literature degree from 2012.
Amy has an absolute passion for her craft, with skills ranging from designing, puppet making, scenic carpentry, scenic painting and prop manufacturing. Originally from South Africa she has gained extensive experience touring internationally with world-renowned Musicals, including Jersey Boys, Singin’ in the Rain, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Chicago the Musical which has taken her across the globe. Amy obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Performing Arts Technology (Cum Laude) at the TUT, South Africa. She recently won an Ovation Award for the puppet build of Audrey 2 in The Little Shop of Horrors at the Arts Club Theatre Company.
Born and raised on traditional Algonquin territory, Eloi Homier usually dances, canoes, and stargazes on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations. Everything Eloi undertakes – from dance and theatre, to storytelling canoe adventures, to sash-weaving, to astronomy – has its raison d’être in his search for authentic identity.
With family lines stretching back 400 years and beyond on the territory now called Québec, Eloi is on a lifelong journey to weave his distant Gallic origins with his sprinkling of Wendat, Abénaki, Algonquin, and Nipissing roots in a way that gives a voice to his ancestors.
Jack (He/Him) is a Sound and Lighting Designer originating from the UK, living on the ancestral, stolen lands of the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh nations. He works to create an atmosphere that immerses the audience into the world of the show, letting them escape reality and lose themselves in theatre.
In Canada, Jack has designed for Axis Theatre (Where Have All the Buffalo Gone?), As and When It Happens (Willilish’d), Rumble Theatre (Las Pasiones de Don Pasquale) (Douglas College (Orlando; Mad Forest), Vancouver Opera (The Pearl Fishers), Massey Theatre/UBC (We Deserve to Work), Jeb Beach Productions (Terminus).
Kathleen Nisbet is a fiddle player, multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer from Vancouver, BC. Classically trained early on, she returned to her Métis roots, pursuing more traditional folk music. Since then she has worked with artists in a variety of genres. A regular accompanist with V’ni Dansi, Métis traditional dance, credits also include work with the Arts Club, Pacific Theatre, Mortal Coil, Citadel Theatre and Mascall Dance. Kathleen is an active member of Vancouver’s thriving bluegrass, old time and folk scene. She performs and tours internationally with her band Viper Central and is known for her live music productions including the East Van Opry.
When Axis Theatre's Artistic Director, Chris McGregor, first told me about Where Have All The Buffalo Gone?, I knew it was something special. It’s a story that spans centuries, but it’s told in a way that feels immediate, personal, and deeply human. Through moments of love, resistance, and rediscovery, it invites audiences to connect with key moments in Métis history.
This play is written for young people, and that’s what makes it so powerful. It doesn’t shy away from hard truths, but it presents them through vivid storytelling, humour, and imagination. It opens the door for young audiences to ask questions, to listen deeply, and to see themselves reflected in complex and meaningful ways.
Axis Theatre has long been a leader in creating theatre that is both accessible and artistically rich. Their work engages young audiences without talking down to them, and this piece is a beautiful example of that.
I chose this production because it speaks to young people with respect and honesty, and because it helps us all better understand the world we live in—where we come from, and where we’re going.
- Pat Rundell
Executive & Artistic Director
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