Deer Woman Part of Big World, Up Close

So begins Deer Woman, a solo-warrior-woman story of righteous vengeance created by ARTICLE 11, an international leader in Indigenous activist arts.

Deer Woman tells the story of a young, missing and murdered girl in a country where over 1,600 Indigenous women and girls are officially recognised as being missing or murdered. Lila, one missing girl’s big sister, refuses to stand idly by. She is the daughter of a hunter who taught her all he knew. She’s ex-army, too. When circumstances converge, Lila finds the perfect opportunity to avenge her baby sister’s murder while exercising the skills taught by the Canadian government.

Deer Woman premiered at Tawata Productions’ Kia Mau festival in Wellington, Aotearoa (NZ) in June of 2018. The season ran in the Propellor Stage at BATS Theatre. Deer Woman was hailed as a highlight of the 2019 Sydney Festival, playing at Carriageworks to sold-out houses.

Written by Tara Beagan, directed and designed by Andy Moro, sound design collaboration with Luca Caruso-Moro, with original songs by Lacey Hill, performed by actor and activist Cherish Violet Blood.

Cherish Violet Blood – performer

Cherish is a big beautiful Blackfoot woman from the Blood reserve located in southern Alberta. A Writer, Actor, Storyteller and Comedian, she started her career in performance at a young age doing plays written by her mother. Cherish is a graduate from the Centre for Indigenous Theatre's full-time program in Toronto. She also enjoys working and teaching youth theatre and other arts practices. She believes Traditional Storytelling and humour are the greatest tools for inspiring and learning about who we are and where we come from. She has worked with Aanmitaagzi (Nipissing First Nation), The WOW project (various), Cardinal/Kantor Productions, Spiderwoman Theatre (NYC), Buddies in Bad Times (Toronto), ARTICLE 11 (Calgary), Native Earth (Toronto), Nuit Blanche Toronto, Jumblies Theatre (Toronto), Making Treaty 7 (Calgary) and more.