Falen Johnson

Born in 1982, Johnson is from Six Nations of the Grand River and graduated from the George Brown Theatre School[1] in 2005. She is a member of the bear clan.[2] Johnson spent most of her formative years in Brantford, Ontario; she currently lives in Toronto.[3]

She is the previous Coordinator of the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance, a member-driven organization of professional Indigenous performing artists and arts organizations. IPAA serves as a collective voice for its members and for Indigenous performing arts in Canada. It provides leadership, support, representation, advocacy, and practical assistance for the national development of Indigenous performing arts.[4]

Johnson's plays include Salt Baby, Two Indians, and Ipperwash. Her plays focus on contemporary Indigenous identity, navigating spaces as an Indigenous women, and colonial contexts.[5]

Salt Baby was Johnson's first play and focused on the story of an Indigenous women navigating the differences between 'rez life' and the city. The play was semi-autobiographical and based on her experience living in Six Nations and Brantford, Ontario.[3]

Johnson's play Two Indians is a dark comedy that explores the realities of being Indigenous in Canada.[6] Following its publication in book form in 2021, Two Indians was a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2021 Governor General's Awards.[7]

She created Ipperwash (2018) in response to the Idle No More movement.[8] This play is rooted in the history of the 1995 occupation of the Ipperwash Provincial Park and focuses on the relationship of two cousins and kinship ties.[9] Ipperwash also marked Johnson's debut as a director and was created by working with member of the Stony Point Ojibway community.[5]

Johnson is currently working with Soulpepper Theatre on a play about the life of residential school survivor and artist Shirley Horn.[10]

Johnson co-hosts the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation podcast, Secret Life of Canada with Leah-Simone Bowen.[11] This podcast focuses on little known parts of Canadian history and explores the histories of marginalized communities in Canada.[12] Johnson has also been featured on The Moth storytelling podcast.[13]

In 2020, Johnson succeeded Rosanna Deerchild as host of CBC Radio's indigenous newsmagazine series Unreserved.[14]

Johnson was named one of the 20 people to watch in 2020 by Maclean's Magazine.[10]

In 2019 Johnson won the best audio work award at the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. This award recognized her work on the Secret Life of Canada podcast.[15]

As part of its Indigenous Arts Award Laureates program, the Ontario Arts Council awarded Johnson with the Emerging Artist Award in 2015.[16]