Bitingly funny and brutally honest, Where the Blood Mixes is a deeply personal accounting about loss and redemption as it goes beyond the

and redemption as it goes beyond the headlines and tackles the nation's dark-est secret-residential schools.

Winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama the play stars Lorne Cardinal, known as the lovable Officer Davis on Corner Gas, and Craig Lauzon of Royal Canadian Air Farce fame.

The cast takes viewers on an emotional journey capturing one of the mosttragic and heinous chapters in Canadian history.

Where the Blood Mixes is presented by the Chilliwack Arts & Cultural Cen-tre Society with assistance from the Sto: lo Nation and comes to the Centre on March 9.

Written by Kevin Loring, Where The Blood Mixes is set in Lytton, B.C., which is located where the mighty Fraser and Thompson rivers meet. Loring says he wrote the play to expose the shadows below the surface of the community, and to celebrate its survivors.

At first glance, Where the Blood Mixes may seem like a tough go: an aboriginal-penned play about residential school survivors coming to terms with years of abuse and cultural decimation. But one of the most surprising things about Loring's work is just how darn funny it is.

"A big part of our healing includes being able to laugh at the same time when serious matters are being dealt with," says Naxaxalhtsi, Albert "Sonny" McHalsie, cultural advisor/historian for the Sto: lo Research and Resource Management Centre, "especially at a time when many of our people are dealing with their experiences at residential school through healing, court, or settlements or a combination of all."

Powerful and disturbing, Where the Blood Mixes is an important piece of theatre that is bringing a very sensitive subject out into the open.

? For tickets call the centre box office at 604-391-SHOW (7469), visit in person or purchase online at www.chilliwackcul-turalcentre.ca.