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Sixty Below

Sixty Below is a play that examines issues faced by First Nations and other Indigenous people in Canada today. The colonization process has left many without the foundations which societies are built upon: language, spirituality, education, justice systems, etc. Those have been replaced by another society, the colonizer’s ways and beliefs.

This replacement has meant uncertainty, lack of faith and hope for First Nations people, which has turned into pathologies such as low educational attainment, high alcohol use, violence and suicide. Without the foundations to build a strong society, it has allowed those conditions to run rampant. 

These issues are as relevant today as when Sixty Below was first staged in the Yukon in 1993. Yet we are still here, and our humour and storytelling are essential to our resistance and survival.

In 2024, many Yukon First Nations have signed modern day treaties and self-government/administration agreements, starting in 1995. This has allowed them to become major players in the economic and political life of the Yukon Territory. It has resulted in many programs that are based in First Nation ways of knowing and doing. It has also resulted in many non-First Nation Yukoners becoming more aware of the issues faced by Indigenous peoples. 

While First Nations are more involved in the economy and political life of the territory, there are lingering effects of colonization. Poor health, jail and recidivism, violence and substance abuse are still issues. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples of 1996 said it would take four generations to return Indigenous communities to health IF major funding was put to the issue. It has not happened.

Sixty Below offers up some food for thought. It does not try to answer the questions, but it does offer ideas and maybe some hope. I see this hope, alongside resilience, wisdom and laughter, every day in our Elders, our youth, our knowledge-keepers, language champions, artists and storytellers.


Sixty Below was made possible with funding from Canada Council for the Arts and the Yukon government, and is one of five projects produced by the Yukon Digital Theatre Collective. To explore the other projects click here.

Thank you for additional support from Nakai Theatre and the Guild Hall.

Leonard Linklater Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Leonard Linklater is a playwright and founding Gwaandak Theatre Co-Artistic Director, a journalist and host of CBC Yukon’s Midday Cafe. A member of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, he was born and raised in Inuvik, N.W.T. and is a co-creator of Ndoo Treedyaa Gogwaandak – Vuntut Gwitchin Stories radio plays, including Ch’iitsii Khał Datl’oo / The Blue Cruiser, adapted from his godfather Stephen Frost’s story. Leonard’s first play Sixty Below received seven Dora award nominations for its Toronto stage production (Native Earth). Justice was featured in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre’s Northern Scene, fittingly, in an old courthouse. Leonard was a co-creator of Map of the Land, Map of the Stars. A participant in the 2019 Caravan Farm Theatre National Playwrights Retreat, and Banff Play Lab, he is a winner of the Borealis Prize for literary and storytelling contributions in the Yukon and a member of Playwrights Guild of Canada.

Patti Flather Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Patti Flather is an award-winning writer, theatre artist and arts producer in Whitehorse. She is a co-founder and past Artistic Director for two decades of Gwaandak Theatre, dedicated to nurturing and sharing Indigenous and northern voices. Patti’s play Paradise toured nationally (MT Space/Gwaandak Theatre); it’s published with Playwrights Canada Press. Selected other plays include Sixty Below (with Leonard Linklater), the solo show West Edmonton Mall, and the collectively created work Map of the Land, Map of the Stars. Her acclaimed first fiction collection is Such A Lovely Afternoon. Patti is of settler ancestry, originally from North Vancouver, B.C. and grateful to live on Kwanlin Dün First Nation & Ta’an Kwäch’än Council territory since 1988.

Wren Brian Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Wren is a playwright who started her career in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada (territory of the Kwanlin Dün & Ta’an Kwäch’än) where she was born and raised. She then spent over 12 years based in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Treaty 1 territory, before moving to Scotland in July 2022. In her writing she is dedicated to creating characters that can be played by actors of any gender, ancestry, ability, and/or age.  Her play Anomie won the 2017 Harry S. Rintoul Award for Best New Manitoba Play at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, and she was recently shortlisted for the John Hirsch Emerging Manitoba Writer Award. Production credits include: Bystander (produced by Gwaandak Theatre), Situation (commissioned and produced by Gwaandak Theatre), When (Climate Change Theatre Action 2021) and Now (Climate Change Theatre Action 2023). Her interactive digital theatre production The Investigator launched January 2024 by the Yukon Digital Theatre Collective and is available now.

David Geary Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

David Geary (Taranaki Māori & Pākehā) grew up loving Māui trickster tales in Aotearoa New Zealand and is now honoured to live with the Coyote and Raven tricksters of Turtle Island. He has won the Bruce Mason and Adams playwriting awards. David lives in Vancouver where he teaches scriptwriting at Capilano University and playwriting for PTC Playwrights Theatre Centre. His short fiction appears in Purākau (Penguin Random House). He’s a dramaturg (LMDA) and script consultant for theatre, TV and Film. He writes haiku on twitter @gearsgeary and lives by the yogic mantra: Life is short, stretch it.

Audio Play Credits

Reneltta Arluk Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Reneltta is an Inuvialuk/Dene/Cree from the Northwest Territories. Raised by her grandparents on the trap-line until school age, this nomadic environment gave Reneltta the skills to become the multi-disciplined artist she is now. She is founder of Akpik Theatre, a northern focussed professional Indigenous Theatre company. For nearly two decades, Reneltta has taken part in or initiated the creation of Indigenous-led Theatre across Canada and overseas. Current Director experience includes: Bound & Messiah/Complex (Against the Grain Theatre); The Birds (Studio Theatre); All That Binds Us (Azimuth Theatre); The Breathing Hole (The Stratford Festival), where she received the 2017 Tyrone Guthrie – Derek F. Mitchell Artistic Director’s Award, The Unplugging (Gwaandak Theatre). Radio plays: The Unplugging (Common Boots Theatre); Niitahtaastsi (Jupiter Theatre); I Count Myself Among Them (Akpik Theatre); Ndoo Tr’eedyaa Gogwaandak – Forward Together (Gwaandak Theatre.) Co-Director experience: Kuekuatsheu Mak Muak (Anorae Productions) and Aklavik Journals (Stuck in a Snowbank Theatre). Reneltta has extensive directing experience working within Indigenous communities across Canada in self-created work.

Jordy Walker headshot for Sixty Below audio play credits page

Jordy Walker is a musician, composer, sound designer, record producer, and sound artist based in Whitehorse, Yukon. With a passion for experimental music and sound design, the ability to play and compose on several instruments as well as proficiency and experience in the recording studio, he has maintained a career with much flexibility and variety. He has produced/engineered over 50 records and worked on an equal number of films, theatre and contemporary dance pieces.

Body Benjamin Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

From a long line of fine Gwitch’in fiddlers, Boyd Benjamin was destined to take up the traditions of his home community of Old Crow, Yukon. With an ideal balance of natural talent and formal training, Benjamin’s repertoire features a staggering gamut of songs, styles, and techniques. 

“My grandfather – Peter Benjamin was a fiddler. Fiddling is in my Blood already, I see myself continuing to pass it on”.  

Fiddle virtuoso Boyd Benjamin is flying pretty high in the media lately, with three full length studio albums to his credit, adding to his already impressive reputation as one of the North’s most promising musical talents. Boyd’s musical history includes studies in the Yukon, Alberta and B.C. By grade 6, he was playing guitar and singing in local coffee shops around B.C. Music educators recognized his natural talent and led him to learn trombone, oboe and tuba along with music theory and violin. He credits this formal training and his heritage for imprinting in him the capacity for creating music that captivates his listeners. 

Boyd’s captivating and energetic stage presence is infused with charm and grace that forges instant fondness. His lively tunes lift spirits. Of course, the multi-talented young gent can also lift planes and helicopters – he has licenses for both (in addition to his obvious license to musically thrill) and pilots for Air Canada. 

His dream of a life with music as well as an aviation career spurred Boyd Benjamin on to become both a performer and a pilot, achieving a Special Youth Award at the 2008 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards for the goals he has reached to date and his vision for the future.

Charles Eshleman Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Charles had a few stage experiences in elementary. Mainly choir in school concerts. He was taught the box dance with a partner for a stage dance play. He was also part of the choir in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Then most of his time from 13 to 31 a struggling kickboxing karate teacher and competitive athlete. He switched lifestyles and returned to Yukon. He did performances with Dawson’s First Nations Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in drummers and singers. He got inspired to explore acting after watching the original Sixty Below performance when he worked in Dawson City. Eventually moving back to Whitehorse he acted in several play readings. He was also a stand in for Justice by Leonard Linklater about the trial and execution of the Nantuck brothers in Dawson City. He’s also participated in two readings of Sixty Below.  He also did a BBC prehistoric film as a native tribe member.  And also worked with a famous Japanese film crew for a drama playing a medicine man.  He likes performance and acted in a 60 minute solo stage play.

Charles Mcleod Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

I’m a screenwriter, director and actor based in the Yukon. I attended Toronto Film Schools Writing for Film & TV program. I was part of the Yukon Film Society’s ALFF Accelerator Program, and attended industry building programs put on by Screen Production Yukon Association. I’m looking forward to being part of many future creative projects in the Yukon, and super blessed to have been part of Sixty Below, working with such talented individuals and creative minds.

Earl Darbyshire Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Earl Darbyshire, Chädlita in Southern Tutchone, is an elder and storyteller. He was raised in the Champagne/Klukshoo area, and schooled in Whitehorse Yukon. Through his grandparents and many Elders, Chǎdlita has learned his traditional ways. Through songs stories and legends, he loves to share his culture.

Jeszika Mae Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

A jack of all trades and master of none, Luke is a queer about town, multi-disciplinary artist, social activist, community organizer and chef by trade from Kjipuktuk, in the Sɨpekne’katik area of Mi’kma’ki . Removed from nekm cultural heritages thanks to colonialism, Luke lives at the intersection of many marginalizations, and centres nekm work on creating safe, welcoming spaces in which to uplift marginalized voices while holding each other up and holding each other accountable. Since arriving in Yukon in 2014, Luke’s artistic path has often circles back to Leonard and Patti in some way, and nekm grateful to be in community with them. Luke is filled with gratitude to have been cast in Sixty Below.

Miki Wolf Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Miki Wolf is a Southern Tutchone, Tlingit, and Cree artist, teacher, and creative practitioner from the Champagne Aishihik First Nation (Agunda). She is the granddaughter of Roy and Dorothy Wabisca. Miki is an MFA graduate in Creative Research at Liverpool John Moores University (UK) through Transart Institute. Miki is invested in developing her own creative healing methodologies, drawing from her Indigenous worldview and  experimental Theatre and post-modern Dance performance training background.

Rae Mombourquette Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Rae Mombourquette is a Łingit Acadian citizen of Kwanlin Dün First Nation in Whitehorse, Yukon. She is a granddaughter of the Big Salmon Northern Tutchone people and great-granddaughter of the Marsh Lake Tagish Kwan.

Ms. Mombourquette is an Indigenous researcher specializing in Yukon First Nations heritage co‑management and Final Agreement Heritage implementation.

She has a B.A. in Canadian Studies from Thompson Rivers University and a certificate in Indigenous Women in Community Leadership from the Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University. Ms. Mombourquette is the Yukon representative to the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. 

Ms. Mombourquette is a mother of two and passionate about promoting and preserving all aspects of Indigenous Canadian history and languages  and uses storytelling and performing arts to communicate Indigenous Canadian themes.

Film Credits

Tova Krentzman Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Yukon filmmaker Tova thrives on bringing creative visions to life, both her own and those of others. Her passion lies in the collaborative process of filmmaking, transforming ideas into powerful visual stories.

Douglas Joe Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Douglas Joe (DJ) is a White River First Nations member who has a beautiful 7-year-old daughter. His mom is from Snag Yukon and father is from Klukshu, Yukon. DJ spent most of his childhood in the Yukon wilderness. Crafting slingshots from trees and making forts out of tree branches, DJ has been creating since he was a youth. He rarely spent time indoors. Today, DJ has carried on his passion for creation into filmmaking. He has taken his unique experience as a Yukon First Nations filmmaker and began teaching youth on how to shoot, light, use audio and edit interviews with our elders. DJ attended Capilano University and completed a certificate in filmmaking. Since then, he has taken off and completed various small projects including producing and directing a music videos as well as a mini documentary about a Chinese tailor. Alongside film making as his passion he is also a carpenter. In school he built a custom-made scrap table and donated it to the University where they auctioned it off for thousands of dollars. He is also studying Computer Science. “I do believe that you should always be learning something new and try and get out of your comfort zone, when you push through all of that there is growth.”

Atsushi Headshot for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Atsushi was born and raised in Japan, moved to the Yukon in 2011 with a background of wildlife photography and studio photography. He has been sharing footage and photos with BBC Earth’s Great RIver 2, Canadian Geographic, Yukon North of Ordinary, Japanese Magazines, and others. Also he has been filming documentary, promotional, archival videos for local associations and companies, in addition to supporting projects of Yukon filmmakers. In 2019 he was the winner of the Fast Light Image Festival Photo Contest. Now Atsushi is getting ready to launch his own filming project as a producer in the near future.

Lea-Ann McNally for credits page of Sixty Below an audio digital theatre production.

Lea-Ann McNally, a multidisciplinary artist, received her BFA from Concordia University Inter-Media CyberArts. Raised in rural Quebec, she moved to the Yukon in 2008. She has been working on production teams for film, TV, video, photo, community theatre and live broadcast events in a number of different roles. These include Production Designer, Set Designer, Set Painter Prop Master, Camera Operator, Camera Assistant, Sound Recordist, and Background Performer.

Still of Bradley Balmforth in a film clip from Sixty Below

Christine Genier headshot for Sixty Below audio play credits page

Born and raised on her ancestral lands, Christine Genier is a Wolf Clan citizen of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. She is a writer, poet, performer, a collector of stories, and a language and culture worker. Christine parlayed her theatre training into a career in broadcasting, where she stayed firmly planted for almost two decades. Her story collection work has been published with Inuit Arts Quarterly as well as local community publications. 

She wrote a poem which received 5 upvotes and two comments once on a writing prompt subreddit. She was pretty excited about that. She shares a lived experience that spans over four decades of bridging culture and recovering the Indigenous Space with those prepared to engage.