Keepers of the Salish Sea

September 26, 4pm-6pm

Raven’s Cry Theatre

Join us for a one-night only event in collaboration with Holy Crow Arts Society. Squamish Nation playwright Justin Neal explores the tradition of canoeing in Keepers of the Salish Sea. The play is about finding that path we all seek, a search for meaning in life, to discover answers to existential questions. A probing, searching, hilarious tale infusing Coast Salish traditions — inspired by a phenomenal cultural practice thousands of years old, nearly erased by colonization — with the pressing environmental and social issues of our day. The stage reading is directed by Quelemia Sparrow.

From the late 90s to the 2010s Justin Neal juggled day jobs with amateur theatre at night. In 2013, he took a leap of faith to focus on dramatic writing full-time, relocating to his family’s Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw lands to pursue a joint MFA degree in Creative Writing and Theatre at UBC. His screenplays have placed him in dozens of competitions, programs, and residencies across North America; his feature screenplay The Skins Game will commence filming in 2026. As playwright and founder of Holy Crow Arts, he has premiered new plays, So Damn Proud (2021), and Keepers of the Salish Sea (2024). Neal is an alumnus of the Canadian Film Centre’s Film Program Writers’ Lab and a 2024-25 Shadbolt Fellow in the Humanities at SFU.