Review: On Native Land

Corey Payette’s new musical On Native Land is ambitious. Of course, every new musical is ambitious — honestly, it’s a miracle that anybody puts on musicals at all, let alone endeavoring to write and direct a whole new one — but this one in particular has big goals. It tells two parallel stories, one of a legal battle regarding Indigenous land rights and another of an Indigenous musician’s challenges with representing his identity in the public eye, while trying to take on complex themes of cultural belonging, race, and relationships to land. Even as its ambitions are not entirely fulfilled here, it’s an admirable attempt and there’s much to like here.

I’ll begin with the negatives. I think that most of my challenges with this show are rooted in the decision to include two separate stories. Either one of them might have been interesting enough on their own to build a show around, but as parallel narratives neither has the room to breathe. In the first act in particular, we jump back and forth between the two stories at a breakneck pace, moving quickly through both stories without getting a chance to settle into either to connect more meaningfully to their characters and their complexity. As a result of the abbreviated storytelling in each narrative thread, almost every scene in the first act is emotionally heightened in a way that doesn’t feel entirely earned. There also doesn’t seem to be much payoff for the parallel structure: the two stories don’t come together in a meaningful way, and while they have some thematic overlap I’m not sure what they gain from being placed next to each other in this way.

Again, though, there’s also a lot here that does work. When, in the second act, we get to spend more time in longer lower-stakes scenes, the richness of emotion here finally comes through in a more authentic-feeling way than it was able to in the first. When the performances are allowed to work in a more subdued emotional register, they resonate much stronger. The increased time spent in one of the stories comes at the cost of the other falling away a bit, but that focusing is to the show’s benefit.

Payette’s music is catchy and frequently beautiful, with the cast putting in strong vocal performances across the board. The songs are lyrically dense and melodically complex while remaining emotionally accessible which is quite an impressive balancing act. Beyond the music, the cast do well with what they’re given: any hesitations that I had with individual performances are rooted in the script, not the actors.

Among the cast, Wahsontí:io Kirby’s performance as Land is fantastic, and is rightly at the centre of the show. They bring a warmth and humour to the character that provides some much-needed grounding to the show. Their opening scene welcoming the audience into the world of the show and encouraging a bit of audience participation in the first song sets a wonderful tone for the evening, and their narrative interludes help to refocus the audience on On Native Land‘s emotional core.

Speaking of interludes, there’s a section in the second act that gives choreographer Jera Wolfe and assistant choreographer Nathan Coburn a chance to shine, and it’s really quite exceptional. It’s a notable shift in tone and style from everything around it, That section also showcases Alaia Hamer’s set design and Jonathan Kim’s lighting design which are, typically, excellent: the striking visual moments they create do a lot to elevate the piece as a whole.

In all, although it’s not without its challenges, On Native Land is worth seeing. Fittingly for a show about land, it’s got a great foundation which I only hope will continue to be nurtured to create a show (or two) with a bit more room to flourish.

Rating: 4/5

Date watched: April 14th, 2026

Location: York Theatre, Vancouver BC

Review by: Oliver Spilsbury