The Only Good Indian by Pandemic Theatre

O.G.I. (The Only Good Indian)

SEPTEMBER 18-28, 2025 – The Colin Jackson Studio Theatre

Project Design by Jivesh Parasram & Tom Arthur Davis

Written and Performed by Debbie Patterson, Hazel Venzon, Eric Plamondon, Jivesh Parasram & Tom Arthur Davis

The Only Good Indian is part Ted-Talk, part meditation, and part threat. Or maybe a sacrifice. 

Each incarnation of The Only Good Indian recruits a new artist to step into the radical headspace of a suicide bomber. In turn, each performer straps themselves into a suicide vest — and struggles to rationalize to the audience such an “irrational” decision.

It dissects where our similarities begin and where they end, forcing both the performer and the audience to ask themselves: What would I die for?

Creator Note

OGI or “The Only Good Indian” – first performed in 2017 – was conceived as a project for artists of settler heritage (broadly speaking) to engage with themes of occupation, colonialism, and thanatopolitics – the politics of dying.

The name of the project is derived from the particularly foul saying ‘the only good indian is a dead indian’ which has been credited (accurately or not) to many different people in history including Sir John A MacDonald, Theodore Roosevelt, General Sheriden, and Sir Winston Churchill. It’s also unclear exactly what kind of ‘Indian’ it was referring to.

Whoever said it, the sentiment has been around for some time, and has been supported by policy and enforcement by ‘non-Indian’ settler and colonial governing bodies that enshrine some life with more value than others.

What you are attending is a piece of experimental theatre. We think this is an important context for engaging with this work. Here’s how the experiment works:

Part I

There are different performers who perform different versions of this show. Through a system of writing prompts they have been asked to mine their own life experiences and ancestry to construct their version of the show. However, about half of the content – a series of lectures on political theory – remains the same in each version.

In this production, an exception has been made for Eric Palmondon’s piece. As we’ve noted – the project was designed for settler artists, thus as the first Indigenous artist to engage with the project as a creator, Eric was given free license to re-interpret and re-invent the project.

We should also say that while the piece draws on autobiography in how it is made – the person you see on stage is still a character. This is not necessarily the reality of the actual artist performing. But parts of it might be.

Part II

The second half of the evening is a ‘long table’ discussion. Designed by performance innovator Lois Weaver, a ‘long table’ is like a more participatory talk-back, allowing the audience to engage with each other.

We will pose a question inspired by each version of OGI, and any audience member who wishes to join the conversation will take a seat at the table. You can only speak when you are at the table, anyone can come to or leave the table at any time, and if there isn’t a free seat, you can request one. Ultimately, this is meant to be an open place for you to discuss what’s on your mind.

TICKETS ON SALE HERE!

PERFORMER SCHEDULE:

• Jivesh Parasram: Sept 18 – ONE NIGHT ONLY!
• Tom Arthur Davis: Sept 19 – ONE NIGHT ONLY!
• Debbie Patterson: Sept 20 (ASL Interpreted Matinee), Sept 25, Sept 27 (evening)
• Eric Plamondon: Sept 20 (evening), Sept 24, Sept 27 (Audio Described Matinee)
• Hazel Venzon: Sept 23, Sept 26, Sept 28

ASL INTERPRETED PERFORMANCE: September 20th @ 2pm

AUDIO DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE: September 27th @ 2pm

MEET THE PLAYWRIGHTS

Debbie Patterson – Playwright/Actor

Debbie Patterson is a Winnipeg playwright, director and actor. Trained at the National Theatre School of Canada, she is a founding member of Shakespeare in the Ruins, served as Artistic Associate at Prairie Theatre Exchange and was a member of the PTE Playwrights Unit. She was writer in residence at University of Winnipeg and Theatre Projects Manitoba. She was a member of the Stratford Festival Acting Company 2023. She is a proud advocate for disability justice through her work as founding and current Artistic Director of Sick + Twisted Theatre.

She was honoured with the United Nations Platform for Action Committee’s 2014 Activist Award and the City of Winnipeg’s Winnipeg Making a Mark Award in 2017. She was twice shortlisted for the Gina Wilkinson Prize. She is a recipient of the King Charles III’s Coronation Medal. She is the matriarch of a family of artists.

She lives a wheelchair-enabled life in Winnipeg (Treaty 1) and in a cabin on the shore of Lake Winnipeg (Treaty 2) with her partner, Arne MacPherson.

Hazel Venzon – Playwright/Actor

Hazel Venzon is a seasoned actress, director, multidisciplinary artist and producer known for transforming communities through her visionary approach to art-making. Her practice is deeply rooted in creating performances, events, and social engagements that explore themes of migration, cultural integration, and the human cost of globalism.

Trained in sculpture at the University of Manitoba’s School of Fine Arts and an alumna of both The Black Hole Theatre and Studio 58 (Vancouver), Hazel has built a career in the rich space between conventional art forms—mirroring the way she navigates the world. Influenced by relational aesthetics and a community-engaged practice, she creates immersive, intercultural experiences that blur the boundaries of performance while remaining grounded in entertainment and play.

A finalist for the Making a Mark Award and the Gina Wilkinson Prize, Hazel has also served as a casual instructor at the University of Winnipeg. In the latter half of her career, she worked as artistic associates to artistic directors at the Yukon Arts Centre and Prairie Theatre Exchange. She is now the co-founder, executive director and artistic producer of U N I Together (you and i) Productions, a company dedicated to supporting Filipino storytellers and illuminating stories from the Filipino diaspora.

Hazel (she/her) was born on Treaty 1 Territory and makes art that reflects the complexities of her position as a marginalized settler-colonizer. 

Eric Plamondon – Playwright/Actor

Multidisciplinary and self-taught artist Eric Plamondon has been cultivating art on the land of Muddy Waters for the last two decades. Never afraid of bold projects that have something to say, Eric has directed and adapted into French the play Jerker by Robert Chesley, presented at the Théâtre Cercle Molière in 2023. During the winter of 2024, Eric temporarily took over a cenotaph dedicated to a militia volunteering to stamp our ‘the métis rebellion’’ with his public art (disruption) piece Redaction. Eric’s poetry has served as narratives for his short film offerings such as Arc-en-noir (2023) and Stained Lips (2018). The last time Eric was on stage was with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet as a guest artist for the production of Jekyll & Hyde (2024).

This is Eric’s first collaboration with Theatre Projects Manitoba and Pandemic Theatre. Gratitude to both, for the invitation, permission, the ally ship and the structure to present something that feels réelle, that feels relevant, that feels theatrical.

Jivesh Parasram – Playwright/Actor

Tom Arthur Davis – Playwright/Actor

Jodi Kristjanson – Stage Manager