t’əl: Wild Man of the Woods

The groundbreaking T’əl: The Wild Man of the Woods unfolds a First Nations story through the lens of a fully Indigenous creative team, landing them on the cover of the Globe & Mail in 2024.

Narrated in both English and Ayajuthem by Elder Elsie Paul, the full-evening work follows a fearless young woman who sets out to rescue her sister from T’əl, a dark figure who steals children under the cover of night in order to eat them. The evocative original score is composed by Cris Derksen, a JUNO-nominated, Two-Spirit cellist and composer. With stunning costume design by Asa Benally (Navajo designer and Yale alumnus), T’əl is a powerful fusion of movement, music, and storytelling that honours the richness of an oral tradition that has kept children safe for millennia.