Moose Jaw’s Mae Wilson Theatre will be turned into a court room on July 3 as the Trial of Louis Riel comes to town.
This year is the 125th anniversary of the 1885 Northwest Resistance and 2010 has also been designated as the Year of the Métis.
The Trial of Louis Riel by John Coulter was commissioned in 1967 as a project to celebrate Canada’s centennial anniversary and is based upon actual court transcripts of the trial — arguably the most famous trial in the country’s history.
Riel was a leader of a resistance movement by the Métis and First Nations people of western Canada against the government in what is now Saskatchewan.
The Northwest rebellion was suppressed which led to Riel’s capture and trial for treason. He was executed by hanging.
The play, which will start at 8 p.m, is the longest running play in Canada next to Anne of Green Gables.
It will feature Moose Jaw actor Russ McKnight, who has been invited back for his 22nd year.
Read more in a future Times-Herald edition.
