After nearly thirty years of touring A Real West Show – The Medicine Line, Ken Mitchell is looking for a permanent home for the production.
On Sunday, a short version of the play was performed in front of roughly 200 people who were looking for a unique and educational way to celebrate Canada Day, at the old location of the Wild Animal Park.
The outdoor play, dubbed “Theatre on the Hoof,” tells the story of the negotiations between the North West Mounted Police and the Lakota Sioux as they learned to share the land in a young Canada. Using live animals, and a historically driven script, the play was a snapshot of what life was like when the country was just finding its roots.
“It continues to be the story about Sitting Bull and the Lakota Sioux who crossed into Canada in 1877, initially, and remained here, largely in Wakamow Valley, for five years while they negotiated their entry into Canada,” said Mitchell.
The play was well received by those in attendance, even with a stubborn horse who had a slight moment of stage fright halfway through the show.
“I enjoyed it,” said audience member Bob Curry. “It was very nice seeing it in this setting with the horses, although the one horse wouldn’t do what they wanted it to.”
Mitchell said he has worked out a 10-year plan to open an international tourist attraction in the park, which would include a heritage museum and regular performances of the production, in the hopes of attracting between 100,000 and 200,000 history buffs a year.
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
