13 years later, Cliff Cardinal’s “Huff” still blows the house down

Cliff Cardinal’s Huff, back on stage at Crow’s Theatre in Toronto, deserves all the raves it has received. Combining raw emotional intensity with dark humour, Huff offers an immersive journey into the harsh realities of youth life on an unnamed reservation. The one-man show, written and performed by Cardinal, navigates – or rather, confronts – complex themes such as grief, suicide, addiction, self-harm, intergenerational trauma, and familial strife. And all with a disarming, sometimes shocking, blend of sincerity and wit.  

Cardinal seamlessly transitions between young Wind, who is the youth who narrates the story, and a spectrum of related characters, including his father, his step-mother, his brothers, his Kokhum, his teacher, and even his classmates. Each new voice adds depth and perspective to the unfolding narrative about low-income life on the res. Cardinal’s performance is both a display of versatility and a strategy for profound audience engagement. He draws us into the lived experiences of these characters, right from the jolt-inducing opening scene, which is guaranteed to cause a sharp intake of breath in unsuspecting audience members. 

Except for their Kokhum, Wind and his younger brother Huff are neglected by the adults in their lives. To cope, they get high by huffing gasoline or solvents, or they take turns choking one another in the “pass-out game”, in order to escape to hallucinated fantasy worlds from the family’s dingy basement or an abandoned motel.  The effect is one of profound discomfort . . . yet at the same time, it’s funny, which keeps us in thrall. An actor of charm and warmth, Cardinal liberally breaks the fourth wall to directly address and engage his audience – individually and collectively. He discusses at length his people’s belief in the Trickster spirit, and his shape-changing performance epitomizes it. Effortlessly, he beguiles us – eschewing balance in favour of continually shifting contrast: white vs Indigenous; privileged vs underprivileged; horror vs humour; myth vs reality; actor vs audience, life vs death. Before we know it, we’ve whiled away a fast-moving 75 minutes . . . and we’re back (sort of) where we started.  

Huff is adroitly directed by Karin Randoja, with a production design that enhances and magnifies  the visceral experience. The sparse set designed by Jackie Chau keeps the audience’s gaze pinned to Cardinal, no matter where he sits, rolls or falls. The sound design by Alex Williams and lighting design by Michelle Ramsay evoke interior and exterior scapes that balance Trickster elements of magical realism and stark reality. As much as Cardinal does, this atmospheric design invites the audience to immerse themselves in the many-voiced, may-layered world being created on stage.  

It is necessary for audience members to be aware of the show’s advisories because its depictions of self-harm, abuse and violence are raw and vivid. They are also essential, as Cardinal makes clear in his playwright’s notes: Huff  “represents the people whom I believe are Canada’s most taboo subculture: First Nations youth abusing solvents, at high risk of suicide.” And on his website, Cardinal goes further, stressing the ubiquity and global applicability of Huff‘s themes and advisories: “Huff  is about kids who abuse solvents and are at high risk of suicide. It’s not the story of Indigenous people in Canada. If you change ten references in this story, it can be about any group of disenfranchised kids from any community.” 

Amazingly (sadly?), some 13 years after its debut, Huff remains an important and still-resonant exploration of deep-seated societal ills that are both specific and universal. It challenges viewers to confront uncomfortable truths – one after another – while providing both a small space for reflection and connection and an impetus for larger, post-show reflection and action. Since debuting at SummerWorks in 2011, Cardinal has performed Huff more than 200 hundred times nationally and internationally, and has been recognized with the Buddies in Bad Times’ Vanguard Award for Risk and Innovation, two Dora Mavor Moore Awards, RBC’s Emerging Playwright Award, and The Lustrum Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Huff was also shortlisted for Amnesty International’s Freedom Of Expression Award, and the play has been published in several languages and adapted into multiple formats, including a podcast.

Overall, Huff –  whetted over years to almost lacerating sharpness by Trickster Cardinal – remains an essential viewing experience that resonates deeply on emotional, social, and theatrical levels. So go ahead: place yourself in Cardinal’s breathless thrall. Take this gripping and sometimes suffocating ride with him . . . until he finally, belatedly, hits the stage lights and allows oxygen . . .and the smallest smidgeon of hope . . . back into the room.

Huff is on stage at Crow’s Theatre until April 28, 2024. 

© Arpita Ghosal, SesayArts Magazine, 2024