# Cliff Cardinal

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**Cliff Cardinal** is a Canadian actor, playwright and songwriter,[1] known for his one-man show *The Land Acknowledgement, or As You Like It*.[2]

## Early life

The son of actress [Tantoo Cardinal](/source/Tantoo_Cardinal), he was born on the [Pine Ridge Indian Reservation](/source/Pine_Ridge_Indian_Reservation) in [South Dakota](/source/South_Dakota), and grew up in Toronto and [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles,_California) as his mother pursued her career in both Canada and the United States.[2] He had early acting roles in productions such as [Michael Hollingsworth](/source/Michael_Hollingsworth_(writer))'s *The Saskatchewan Rebellion*[3] and Kenneth Williams's *Three Little Birds*, and made his debut as a playwright with *Stitch* at the 2009 Rubaboo Performance Gala in [Edmonton](/source/Edmonton).[4]

## Theatre career

In 2011, *Stitch* was staged at the SummerWorks Theatre Festival,[5] where Cardinal won the [Theatre Passe Muraille](/source/Theatre_Passe_Muraille) Emerging Artist Award, and [Cara Gee](/source/Cara_Gee) won Best Actress for her performance in the lead role.[6]

He first became widely known in 2012 for his one-man show *Huff*, which examined the issue of drug and solvent abuse in indigenous communities.[7] Following a February 2016 production of *Huff* by [Native Earth Performing Arts](/source/Native_Earth_Performing_Arts), Cardinal won [Dora Mavor Moore Awards](/source/Dora_Mavor_Moore_Awards) for [Outstanding New Play, Independent Theatre](/source/Dora_Mavor_Moore_Award_for_Best_Original_Play_(Independent_Theatre)) and Outstanding Male Performance, Independent Theatre, at the 2016 Dora Awards.[8]

After *Huff* and *Stitch* were published together in book form, Cardinal was a nominee in the Alternative Format category at the 2018 [Indigenous Voices Awards](/source/Indigenous_Voices_Awards).[9]

In 2019, his play *Too Good to Be True*, inspired in part by his relationship with his mother, premiered at Toronto's VideoCabaret theatre.[10] It was the first play ever staged by the company in its new Busy St. theatre, and one of the first times the company staged a play by anybody but Hollingsworth and [Deanne Taylor](/source/Deanne_Taylor).[10] In 2019 and early 2020, he toured the variety show *Cliff Cardinal's CBC Special*, in which he performed a mixture of short acting monologues, storytelling and music.[11]

## *The Land Acknowledgement*

In 2021, Cardinal debuted *Shakespeare's As You Like It: A Radical Retelling* at the [Crow's Theatre](/source/Crow's_Theatre) in Toronto.[12] Advertised as an indigenous-themed adaptation of [William Shakespeare](/source/William_Shakespeare)'s *[As You Like It](/source/As_You_Like_It)*, the play actually featured no Shakespearean content at all, and instead consisted entirely of Cardinal performing a monologue on Indigenous Canadian political issues through the framework of a satirical [land acknowledgement](/source/Land_acknowledgement) nominally preceding the Shakespeare play that wasn't really being performed.[12] Cardinal later explained that the [bait and switch](/source/Bait_and_switch) tactic was chosen because he wanted to avoid "preaching to the converted", and instead wanted the monologue to hit harder by virtue of being unexpected and surprising.[2] To that end, he also concluded each show by asking the audience not to reveal the trick to people who had not yet seen the show.[12]

In 2022, Cardinal undertook a national tour of the show, including runs in [Vancouver](/source/Vancouver),[13] [Edmonton](/source/Edmonton)[14] and [Peterborough](/source/Peterborough,_Ontario).[15] Cardinal received dual Dora nominations at the 2022 awards, for [Best Leading Performer, General Theatre](/source/Dora_Mavor_Moore_Award_for_Best_Leading_Performer_(General_Theatre)) and [Best Original Play, General Theatre](/source/Dora_Mavor_Moore_Award_for_Best_Original_Play_(General_Theatre)).[16] The play was also published in book form, and was a shortlisted [Trillium Book Award](/source/Trillium_Book_Award) nominee for [English prose](/source/Trillium_Book_Award,_English) in 2023.[17]

The play received a new production by [Mirvish Productions](/source/Mirvish_Productions) at the [CAA Theatre](/source/CAA_Theatre) in 2023, although it was retitled *The Land Acknowledgement, or As You Like It* as Mirvish did not permit Cardinal to use the "bait and switch" marketing tactic.[18]

The play's print publication won the [Governor General's Award for English-language drama](/source/Governor_General's_Award_for_English-language_drama) at the [2023 Governor General's Awards](/source/2023_Governor_General's_Awards).[19][20]

## References

1. ["How Cliff Cardinal's play tricked audiences into confronting Canada's relationship with Indigenous people"](https://www.cbc.ca/arts/q/cliff-cardinal-q-tom-power-interview-1.6787229). *[Q](/source/Q_(radio_show))*, March 23, 2023.

1. Karen Fricker, ["How Cliff Cardinal’s annoyance with land acknowledgments became a provocative piece of theatre"](https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2023/03/14/how-cliff-cardinals-annoyance-with-land-acknowledgments-became-a-provocative-piece-of-theatre.html). *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*, March 15, 2023.

1. [Richard Ouzounian](/source/Richard_Ouzounian), "The past comes back to taunt us". *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*, March 2, 2007.

1. Liz Nicholls, "A multi-course meal in one pot; Theatre, spoken word and music share flavours in aboriginal variety show". *[Edmonton Journal](/source/Edmonton_Journal)*, June 11, 2009.

1. Robert Crew, "Cash well spent on family tales". *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*, August 8, 2011.

1. "SummerWorks hands out hardware". *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*, August 8, 2011.

1. "Solvent-abuse inspired Huff runs until Saturday". *[Saskatoon Star-Phoenix](/source/Saskatoon_Star-Phoenix)*, June 19, 2013.

1. Carly Maga, "Doras distribute the wealth among T.O.'s best: Canadian Opera big winner - with Siegfried taking five, La Traviata winning three". *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*, June 28, 2016.

1. Jane van Koeverden, ["Indigenous Voices Awards, which recognize emerging Indigenous writers, reveal 2018 finalists"](https://www.cbc.ca/books/indigenous-voices-awards-which-recognize-emerging-indigenous-writers-reveal-2018-finalists-1.4668754). [CBC Books](/source/CBC_Books), May 22, 2018.

1. Karen Fricker, "Too Good to Be True opens VideoCabaret's new theatre in promising form". *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*, April 29, 2019.

1. "Cliff Cardinal lightens up for solo variety show at High Performance Rodeo". *[Calgary Herald](/source/Calgary_Herald)*, January 10, 2020.

1. Glenn Sumi, ["Review: Cliff Cardinal delivers a radical take on As You Like It"](https://nowtoronto.com/culture/review-cliff-cardinal-delivers-a-radical-take-on-as-you-like-it/). *[Now](/source/Now_(newspaper))*, October 2, 2023.

1. "Five shows to see at the push international performing arts festival". *[Vancouver Sun](/source/Vancouver_Sun)*, January 15, 2022.

1. Liane Faulder, "A radical retelling; The Roxy launches with As You Like It adaptation shrouded in mystery". *[Edmonton Journal](/source/Edmonton_Journal)*, April 23, 2022.

1. Schummer, Alex (12 September 2022). ["A new kind of Shakespeare comes to Peterborough"](https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/entertainment/stage/a-new-kind-of-shakespeare-comes-to-peterborough/article_d8f89d50-56f3-5e8c-b829-f5cc8a97e82d.html). *The [Peterborough Examiner](/source/Peterborough_Examiner)*. [Archived](https://archive.today/20260104214204/https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/entertainment/stage/a-new-kind-of-shakespeare-comes-to-peterborough/article_d8f89d50-56f3-5e8c-b829-f5cc8a97e82d.html) 4 January 2026 at the Wayback Machine.

1. Aisling Murphy, ["Nomination Announcements: 42nd Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards"](https://www.intermissionmagazine.ca/doras/nomination-announcements-42nd-annual-dora-mavor-moore-awards/). *Intermission Magazine*, August 29, 2022.

1. ["MP Charlie Angus, poet Cliff Cardinal among Trillium Book Award nominees"](https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2023/05/09/charlie-angus-cliff-cardinal-among-trillium-book-award-nominees.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230509154655/https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2023/05/09/charlie-angus-cliff-cardinal-among-trillium-book-award-nominees.html) May 9, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*, May 9, 2023.

1. Aisling Murphy, ["Cliff Cardinal is a master of emotional manipulation in ‘The Land Acknowledgement, or As You Like It’"](https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/review/2023/03/15/cliff-cardinal-is-a-master-of-emotional-manipulation-in-the-land-acknowledgement-or-as-you-like-it.html). *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*, March 15, 2023.

1. ["Anuja Varghese wins Governor General's literary award for fiction"](https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/anuja-varghese-wins-governor-generals-literary-award-for-fiction/article_1bb0f610-14e9-5ee7-9f19-68bcbfe555f8.html). *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*, November 8, 2023.

1. ["Anuja Varghese's short story collection Chrysalis among $25K Governor General's Literary Award winners"](https://www.cbc.ca/books/anuja-varghese-s-short-story-collection-chrysalis-among-25k-governor-general-s-literary-award-winners-1.7020669). *CBC Books*. CBC. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.

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