Geordie Theatre would be honoured to nominate Wahsontí:io Kirby for this initiative.
Wahsontí:io is a Kanien’kehá:ka artist from the Mohawk Nation of Kahnawà:ke, and someone I have believed in from the very first moment I met them at the National Theatre School. I remember thinking, almost immediately, this is a young warrior. This is someone who is going to be part of the next generation of Indigenous theatre artists in this country who will help steward our stories with care, power, humour, and truth.
I say this without reservation. Wahsontí:io is one of the most talented actors I have ever had the privilege of directing. They are precise, alive, generous, funny, deeply instinctive, and completely present. They are also a joy to be in a room with, which is not a small thing. Talent matters, but how someone carries that talent matters too.
Wahsontí:io’s relationship with Geordie goes back to the pandemic, when they were cast as part of our 2Play Tour. It was a strange time for everyone, and required a lot of what we were all calling “pivoting” at the time, which is a word I think we would all be happy to never hear again. Rather than cancel the tour or pre-record the shows, Geordie chose to livestream both productions to students every morning. It was not easy. It asked a lot of the artists. And Wahsontí:io met that moment with generosity, focus, and courage.
They were also part of From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea, the first Mainstage show Geordie produced under my artistic direction. That production mattered deeply to me, and Wahsontí:io was part of helping shape that beginning.
But it was not until we worked together more recently as actor and director on the remount of Celestial Bodies that I truly understood the level of talent Wahsontí:io carries. I say this without reservation. Wahsontí:io is one of the most talented actors I have ever had the privilege of directing. They are precise, alive, generous, funny, deeply instinctive, and completely present. They are also a joy to be in a room with, which is not a small thing. Talent matters, but how someone carries that talent matters too.
My favourite Wahsontí:io Kirby story, though, goes back even further. 
A couple of years ago, Geordie had just moved into our new home and I was going through boxes of archived material. I picked up a binder that, as it turned out, had a very special meaning to me.
Geordie has a long history with an initiative called From You To Us To You. The idea is simple and beautiful. We reach out to schools and ask students to respond artistically to a prompt. They send us stories, poems, drawings, songs, and ideas, and then we build a show from those responses and bring it back to them in performance.
When I was fresh out of theatre school, my first professional job as an actor was with Geordie’s 2Play Tour. One of the shows that year was a From You To Us To You piece called Once Upon A Home, created by Amanda Kellock. It was about what home meant to those kids. It was a wild show, in the best way, and looking through that binder brought so much of that time rushing back to me.
The binder was from Karonhianónhnha Tsi Ionterihwaienstáhkhwa, an elementary school in Kahnawà:ke. The submissions were organized alphabetically, and as I turned the final pages, I came across this wonderful drawing of a UFO. I should admit here that I am very much a UFO and UAP person, so obviously this caught my attention.
But then I recognized the story. I remembered it. It had actually made it into the show.
And there, at the bottom of the page, at the very end of the binder, was the signature.
Wahsontí:io Kirby.
What moves me most about that discovery is that, at the time, I had no idea Wahsontí:io would become part of my life as an artist, collaborator, and friend. I did not know that years later I would meet them at the National Theatre School and immediately recognize something fierce and special in them. I did not know I would eventually get to direct them, or watch them bring so much intelligence, humour, and spirit to Celestial Bodies. But somehow, before any of that, Wahsontí:io’s imagination had already found its way into my own first chapter with Geordie.
That little UFO drawing, tucked away at the end of a binder from Karonhianónhnha Tsi Ionterihwaienstáhkhwa, was not just a student submission anymore. It became this strange and beautiful reminder that our stories had crossed paths long before either of us knew it. Their voice had already helped shape a show that shaped me. Their story had already been part of Geordie’s story, and, without me knowing it, part of mine too.
That is the kind of full circle moment that reminds me why this work matters.
Wahsontí:io is not only an extraordinary performer. They are an artist with roots, with vision, with fire, and with a deep connection to community and story. And personally, it has meant a great deal to watch them build their career beyond home while still carrying home with them.
-Jimmy Blais, Artistic Director, Geordie Theatre
