First Nations playwright's latest focuses on child welfare system

In Care is the newest work by Saskatoon playwright Kenneth T. Williams and is debuting this week at the Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre. The play explores the challenges an Indigenous woman faces as she navigates the child welfare system.

The play tells the story of a mother working to get her children back after they are taken from her and placed into foster care. While the tale is fictional, Williams drew on his own experiences while writing In Care.

"I think my life like a lot of indigenous people who have been directly or indirectly affected by child welfare in some kind of way," Williams told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.

Williams, who has also worked as a journalist, said the difficulties he encountered while trying to do stories about the foster care system also served as inspiration.

"I found there was a lot of abuse by the agencies and that I couldn't do any stories because effectively legislation silenced the people who had a genuine concern about what was going on," explained Williams.

Actor Krystle Pederson, who plays the protagonist of In Care, said she also feels a personal connection to the story. 

"I've worked with youth in the city and I've seen children that have been taken into care and that are part of the system and I feel like this a story that needs to be told, everyone needs to hear it and start talking about this," said Pederson.

In Care opens Oct. 20 and runs through Oct. 30 at Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre in Saskatoon.