The Ecstasy of Rita Joe

Ecstasy of Rita Joe, The

    Author: George Ryga

    First Performance: 1967, Vancouver

    Published: 1970

    Genre: Pol. drama in 3 acts; prose and songs

    Setting: Western Canada, c.1950–67

    Cast: 15m, 3f

Framed by sentimental ballads sung by a white folk singer and by a court trial, for which Rita Joe is given eight hours to find character witnesses to defend her on a charge of prostitution, the action develops through a series of flashbacks, as Rita, a Native Canadian, tries to piece her life together. We see her childhood on a reservation: she picks berries and plays lacrosse, her father David Joe refuses to sell her to a white man whose own child has died, and she acts protectively like a substitute mother towards her younger sister. She moves to the city, where the pavements make her feet hurt, and gets a job in...

[The entire page is 343 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass