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Indigenous, First Nations, Native Theatre

In this section, content focuses on the work of Indigenous, First Nations, and Native theatremakers. Mary Kathryn Nagle’s series Native Voices is a great starting point, as are series specifically focusing on the performance practices of Kānaka Maoli, the Indigenous people of Hawai‘i, and on Alaska Native theatre.

The Latest

“The Ills We Do, Their Ills Instruct Us So”: Indigenous Futurism at the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival
Essay
“The Ills We Do, Their Ills Instruct Us So”: Indigenous Futurism at the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival
by Robert Hubbard
25 July 2022
The Gathering from the CrossCurrents Festival
Video
The Gathering from the CrossCurrents Festival
Productions, Readings, Discussions, and Workshops Focusing on Climate Change, Immigration, and Indigeneity
Wednesday 4 May to Saturday 7 May 2022
United States
Learning from Sources: Performance and Climate Crisis in Four Brazilian Works
Essay
Learning from Sources: Performance and Climate Crisis in Four Brazilian Works
by Martin Domecq
20 April 2022
A Red Face in the Crowd
Essay

A Red Face in the Crowd

Identities of a Native American Two-Spirit Writer

25 February 2015

Ty Defoe explores what his many identities make him, what it is to be two-spirit, and the kind of art it has inspired him to make.

The Current State of Native Theatre
Essay

The Current State of Native Theatre

24 February 2015

Randy Reinholz shares his experiences as producing artistic director of The Autry—the only Equity theatre dedicated to Native playwrights.

The Indian(s) in the Attic—Divining a Message from August
Essay

The Indian(s) in the Attic—Divining a Message from August

Osage County

23 February 2015

Native voices week continues! August: Osage County’s Kimberly Guerrero explores her work on the show, and what lesson the American theatre can learn from it.

Native Voices On the American Stage
Essay

Native Voices On the American Stage

A Constitutional Crisis

22 February 2015

Playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle kicks off Native Voices Week, “Instead of Redface,” with a personal story about how she came to playwriting from law school and the imperative to tell Native stories.

Performance of Native American playwrights/activists Suzan Shown Harjo and Mary Kathryn Nagle’s My Father’s Bones about Olympian Jim Thorpe
UPenn
Video

Performance of Native American playwrights/activists Suzan Shown Harjo and Mary Kathryn Nagle’s My Father’s Bones about Olympian Jim Thorpe

Thursday 12 February 2015
Philadelphia, PA, United States

Penn Cultural Heritage Center and the Penn Museum in Philadelphia presented a staged reading and discussion of My Father’s Bones—a short play by nationally renowned Native American writers and activists Suzan Shown Harjo and Mary Kathryn Nagle— livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 12 February at 5:30 p.m. EST (New York) / 4:30 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 2:30 p.m. PST (Vancouver) / 22:30 GMT (London).

a man in a Native American headdress
La MaMa’s Urban Indigenous Arts & Culture Symposium Performance of Don't Feed the Indians—A Divine Comedy Pageant
La MaMa Logo
La MaMa
Video

La MaMa’s Urban Indigenous Arts & Culture Symposium Performance of Don't Feed the Indians—A Divine Comedy Pageant

Friday 14 November 2014

La MaMa in New York City presented the Urban Indigenous Arts & Culture Symposium performance of Don't Feed the Indians—A Divine Comedy Pageant from CultureHub  livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 14 November at 18:00 GMT (London) / 1 p.m. EST (Toronto) / 12 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 10 a.m. PST (Vancouver) / 9 a.m. AKST (Anchorage). In Twitter, use #howlround.

World Conference of Indigenous Peoples banner
Sliver of a Full Moon by Cherokee playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle
World Conference of Indigenous Peoples
Video

Sliver of a Full Moon by Cherokee playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle

Sunday 21 September 2014
New York, NY, United States

The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, the Indian Law Resource Center, and the National Congress of American Indians presented Sliver of a Full Moon, a powerful new play by Cherokee playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle as part of the United Nations’ World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 21 September at 1 p.m. EDT (New York) / 12 p.m. CDT / 11 a.m. MDT / 10 a.m. PDT / 9 a.m. AKDT (Alaska) at the Church Center for the United Nations Chapel in New York, and then again on Joe's Pub Youtube page at 7 p.m. EDT (New York) / 6 p.m. CDT / 5 p.m. MDT / 4 p.m. PDT / 3 p.m. AKDT (Alaska) at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater in New York.

Talleres for Dreaming
Series

Talleres for Dreaming

An ongoing series featuring artists that explore creative and artistic processes driven by the insurgent possibility of collective dreaming

The New American Theatre Festival logo.
The New American Theatre Festival
Series

The New American Theatre Festival

B Street Theatre and In the Margin come together to present the inaugural New American Theatre Festival (NATF). The NATF focuses on embracing intersectional new works as the default for the American Theatre canon by inspiring change, demanding proactive action in pursuit of justice, and welcoming a new renaissance.

A group of people in front of the Massachusetts State House holding a banner that reads "It's time to change the mass flag and seal" and "ban the native mascots".
The Living Presence of Our History
Series

The Living Presence of Our History

Presented by The Ohketeau Cultural Center and Double Edge Theatre

On the history and presence of the Nipmuc and other Tribes in Ashfield and the surrounding areas.

School of Resistance logo.
School of Resistance
Series

School of Resistance

A project of IIPM and NTGent, in cooperation with Akademie der Künste

A biweekly livestream with experts of change from around the world: artists, activists, politicians and philosophers.

group of Hawaiian performers singing onstage
The Foundation and Rise of Hawaiian Theatre
Series

The Foundation and Rise of Hawaiian Theatre

Eia Hawai‘inuiākea

This series explores the fundamental elements of Hawaiian theatre while highlighting the elevation and expansion of hana keaka (Hawaiian-medium theatre) across our island chain.

Alaska Native Theatre
Series

Alaska Native Theatre

The first Alaskans have been telling the real story of the land for thousands of years. Yet so often, these are not the stories the rest of the world, or often even the rest of Alaska, knows outside of our communities.

Native Voices
Series

Native Voices

A collection of First Nations voices as they share their experiences in (North) American theatremaking.