Serenbe Playhouse Opens The True Story Of POCAHONTAS This Week

Pocahontas will breathe new life into the story of America's first heroine. In this original telling, we meet Pocahontas just before she is set to leave her beloved home in Virginia to begin a new chapter with husband, John Rolfe, in England.

In the years prior to this period, Pocahontas was captured by English settlers to be used as a bargaining tool in their ongoing conflict with her father. Now married to Rolfe and kept away from her people, Pocahontas yearns to revisit with her homeland. Rolfe joins his wife in the forest as she shares some of her cultural traditions and childhood memories. Through teaching and play, Pocahontas illuminates the role that Virginia's unique vegetation, waterways, and animals played in her day-to-day life. Pocahontas explores self-reflection and healing by reconnecting to one's past. Her encounters on this journey teach us to appreciate life's gifts in the present, just before she sets sail for England to find what awaits her in the future.

Cast and Creative Team The True Story of Pocahontas is lead by a world-class Native American Team: Kara Morrison (playwright), Tara Moses (director), Asa Benally (costume designer),. Other production team members include: Scott Sergent (scenic design), Caleb Siler (sound design), Chris Moneymaker (props desgin), Erin Teaster (stage manager), Lakyn Lews (rehearsal stage manager), Jackson Burnhardt (technical director, Mikaela Dalke (assistant technical director) Madiesen Armenti (master carpenter), Ethan Wethersbee(master electrician) Joel Coady (director of production). Cast: Irene Bedard (Mother), Maddie Easley (Pocahontas), Micah Patterson (John Rolfe), Brandon Smith (Englishman/Hare), Barry Westmoreland (Englishman/Fish), Megan Odell (Gossip/ Bird), Zuri Petteway (Gossip/Deer).

BIOS Kara Morrison - Playwright is an actor, director and playwright based in Cherokee, North Carolina. Born with a passion for unique storytelling, Kara has had the pleasure of writing many original productions, including her most recent title, The Dinner Hour (Burning Coal Theatre Company). As an actor, Kara's favorite projects include her six seasons spent with Unto These Hills Outdoor Drama and playing Mary Clay in The Smithsonian Channel's Lincoln's Last Day. Kara is an enrolled member of the Waccamaw Siouan tribe and hopes that the story of Pocahontas will inspire audiences to learn more about the adversity often faced by Native Americans in both the past and present day. Along with Serenbe Playhouse, Kara is proud to help present the story of Pocahontas in effort to bring forth a story of a people that are vastly underrepresented in modern day American culture. Many thanks from Kara to all involved in the production!

Tara Moses - Director is a citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma with ties to Mvskoke Nation, a director, a playwright, and an advocate for Native rights and sovereignty. Her latest play Bound was last seen in May 2019 at the Theater for the New City with American Indian Artists, Inc. (AMERINDA) making her NYC directing and playwriting debut. She is a 2018/19 fellow with the Intercultural Leadership Institute; the 2019 selected playwright for the playwright's retreat with Native Voices at the Autry; the 2019 Native Storytellers winner with the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program; alum of the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship Program at Arena Stage; member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab; member of DirectorsLabChicago; co-producing Artistic Director of #BingeTheatreCompany; the Interim Artistic Director of telatúlsa; the recipient of the 2016 Thomas C. Fichandler Award; and proud associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. She holds a B.A. in theatre from the University of Tulsa. www.taramoses.com

Maddie Easley (Pocahontas) Regional: Henry VI: The Rise of Richard, A Comedy of Errors (Great River Shakespeare Festival). Other credits include Olivia in Twelfth Night, Clytemnestra in Iphigenia and Other Daughters, and Henrietta Leavitt in Silent Sky. Maddie is a recent graduate of the University of Evansville's Theatre Program (UET) and is delighted to join Serenbe Playhouse for their summer season. She is a proud member of the Wyandotte Nation (Oklahoma) and thanks Serenbe for their commitment to Native voices. Born in Kansas City, Maddie roots for the Royals and authentic KC BBQ.

Irene Bedard (Mother/Narrator)is a Native American actor,director, producerand advocate. Shereceived her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theater from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.Shehas performed onstages includingCircle in the Square, Ensemble Studio Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, andthe prestigious Joseph Papp Public Theateras well as being a founding member of the Native AmericanTheater Ensemble, Chuka Lokoli.She has over60 credits in TV in film. Highlights include:Lakota Woman(Golden Globe nomination);GrandAve; Into The Smoke Signals; the voice of Disney'sPocahontas; the 44th President in the Ava DuVernay, Beyonce, and Jay Z collaboration "Family Feud"; "Longmire"; "The Mist";and "Westworld".This year, Irene is very honored to be inducted into the 2018 class of the Academy ofMotion Picture Arts and Sciences. Irene has been honored as an inductee into the Museum of WesternHeritage and was the first Native American woman to be inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame, has received honorary degrees from Sitting Bull College and the Institute of the American Indian Arts, and theAlumni Award of Excellence from the University of the Arts. She currently serves on the American IndianEnterprise and Business Council Board as the Delegate to the White House and U.N., as well as the SpecialConsul to the U.N. for the Cities of Peace and the World Indigenous Forum where she is currently working to form a Peace Treaty based on the Values formulated by Standing Rock. She served on the Screen ActorsGuild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists National Diversity Committee, and also served on the National Task Force in support of VAWA for the National Congress of the American Indians, personally delivering 180,000 signatures to Sentaro Baynor's office during her attendance of the NIWRC(National Indian Women's Resource Center) field hearings throughout the United States.She has beenArtist in Residence at Vox Box Arts Collective in Los Angeles for20 year; and more recently,Irene has be named Artist in Residence at Perseverance Theater to follow with her mission and vision statement:ToHeal through the Power and Art of Storytelling. She continues working on Grace...And, in the face of hatred, bigotry and outright lies.E Pluribus Unum. Out of Many, One. Or as the Lakota say...Mitakuye Oyasin...We are all Related.

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