‘Only Drunks and Children tell the Truth’ debuts at GPAC

By Elizabeth Butler and Mark Shulman
Photo and Assistant Editors

The University Theatre presents the student production of “Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth” on Feb. 10-14 at 8 p.m. in GPAC.

This is a Native American Indian story written by an Ojibwe playwright, Drew Hayden Taylor. Taylor’s play “Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth” is the winner of the 1997 James Buller Award for Playwright of the Year.

In this two play act, Taylor tells the story of a native family who has been torn apart by government programs in which Native American Indian children were stolen from their parents and adopted by non-nativefamilies.

This play is based on the book “Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth” written by Taylor and Lee Maracle. The book follows up on the sequel, “Someday,” which tells the story of a little native girl named Grace who was adopted by a white family.

In “Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth,” Grace is now an adult who was informed by her birth sister of the death of their mother on the reservation. Grace must now deal with the difficult struggle of discovering her roots, past identity and independence after being disconnected from her Native American heritage.

The plot revolves around Grace and her sister who are from two different worlds; Grace’s sister is from the reservation and Grace, who was raised in urban society.
“Only Drunks and Children Tell The Truth” is a play full of comedy and drama with lively characters that will forever remain in your memory.
Admission is free to all.

-Staff writer Carina Bledsoe contributed to this article.