Artwork by Karlene Harvey for WAM's production of KAMLOOPA depicting three indigenous women on a peach colored background.

US Premiere

Kamloopa: An Indigenous Matriarch Story

by Kim Senklip Harvey
Directed by Estefanía Fadul

Live at Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre October 7-24, 2021

Streaming digitally November 1-7, 2021 (US only)

A hilarious transformation story

Come along for the ride to KAMLOOPA, the largest powwow on the West Coast. This high energy comedy follows two urban Indigenous sisters and their encounter with a lawless trickster, as they explore what it means to honor who they are and where they come from. Follow their journey in this captivating, contemporary new play, as the courageous sisters turn to the ancestors for help to reclaim their power.

In May 2021, Kim Senklip Harvey became the first Indigenous playwright to win the Governor General’s Award for English Language Drama for KAMLOOPA. The judges said: “The brilliance, the irreverence, the fire of KAMLOOPA sweeps us into the world of three Indigenous women on a mind-bending quest. The audience is seduced by the love, humour and depth of these matriarchs as they embrace and celebrate who they are in the world and with each other.

KAMLOOPA explores themes of Native erasure, Indigenous stereotypes, and intergenerational trauma through hilarious and contemporary dialogue. Due to the use of profanity, drinking and thematic elements listed above, WAM recommends this play for audiences high school aged and older.

In line with WAM’s philanthropic mission and accountability work, a portion of proceeds from KAMLOOPA will be donated to women and girls initiatives of the Cultural Affairs office of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Tribe, upon whose lands WAM lives and works. To learn more, click here.

KAMLOOPA is presented at Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox MA.

The performance runs two hours, including a 15 minute intermission.

Kamloopa TICKETS

Our production of KAMLOOPA has ended.

Thank you for your interest!

  • Kim Senklip Harvey

    “I created Kamloopa to ignite the power that lives within Indigenous femmes and peoples. This transformation story is an offer for all of us to be bold and passionate about having the courage to fully become ourselves.”

    Kim Senklip HarveyPlaywright

What they're saying about KAMLOOPA…

  • “Kamloopa is a hilarious and courageous transformation story. Kim Senklip Harvey makes a generous invitation for all of us to bear witness to the joy, resilience and brilliance of Indigenous women.”

    - Christina Quintana, Playwright
  • “Pain is the easiest palette from which to paint, but Harvey’s Kamloopa is a magnificent song of laughter and joy. It is a portrait of Indigenous sisterhood, the likes of which you have never seen before.”

    - Tetsuro Shigematsu, Radio Host
  • “Uplifting the voices of Indigenous women, Two-Spirit, and non-binary folks is incredibly important to our resistence and our communities. Kamloopa is one of those stories providing that platform.”

    - Yolanda Bonnell, Performer & Creator
  • “Provocative, hilarious, and shit-disturbing, Kamloopa is at once political, uncompromising, and generous. It centers stories and experiences and BODIES that are almost never given this level of agency, importance and general badass hilarity.”

    - Marcus Youssef, Director

KAMLOOPA Blogs