Native Voices Presents Festival of News Plays at Autry 6/16-18

Thursday, June 16, 7:30 PM
Friday, June 17, 7:30 PM
Saturday, June 18, 1 PM and 4 PM
Autry National Center, Los Angeles

Native Voices at the Autry, America's leading Native American theater company, continues its tradition of excellence developing works by new and established Native American Playwrights at its highly regarded PLAYWRIGHTS RETREAT AND FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS, culminating in public readings of four new works on Thursday, June 16, 7:30 pm, Friday, June 17, 7:30 pm, and Saturday, June 18, 1 pm and 4 pm, at the Autry National Center's Wells Fargo Theater.

Established in 2004, Native Voices' PLAYWRIGHTS RETREAT AND FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS provides the opportunity during a week-long retreat at San Diego State University for beginning, emerging and established Native American Playwrights to work closely in shaping their plays with nationally recognized directors, dramaturgs and an Acting Company comprised of exceptional Native American actors, concluding with public readings. Many works developed during this project, hosted by Native Voices in conjunction with La Jolla Playhouse and San Diego State University, have gone on to enjoy successful runs on the Autry main stage and elsewhere, including Native Voices' recent production of The Frybread Queen and the company's 2009-10 season opener Carbon Black.

The four plays featured at the 2011 New Festival of Plays readings are:

Cikiuteklluku (Giving Something Away) by Holly Stanton (Yup'ik*), directed by Ed Bourgeois with dramaturgy by Shelley Orr, which is about a young Yup'ik girl from rural Alaska who faces heartache when a non-Native couple adopts her baby.

Ungipamsuuka (My Story) by Susie Silook (Siberian Yupik/Inupiaq*) features the creative team of Stephan Wolfert, director, Robert Caisley, dramaturg and Lauren Simon, assistant dramaturg. The play chronicles an Alaskan Native sculptor who boldly confronts familial, cultural, and sexual trauma with the healing power of art.

The Bird House by Diane Glancy (Cherokee*) is directed by Robert Caisley with dramaturgy by Shirley Fishman. Set in the back room of a failing church in the high plains of Texas, The Bird House delves into the lives of a minister and his two sisters as they sort through the snarls of their past and adapt to loss and the uncertain future of their home and family.

The Woman Who Was Captured by Ghosts by Julie Pearson-Little Thunder (Creek*) is directed by Jere Hodgin with dramaturgy by Julie Jensen. Told through a blend of realistic and mythical storytelling, the play follows a Cheyenne woman battling cancer, who takes a metaphysical journey to a place where tradition is the best medicine.

Native Voices at the Autry, led by Founder/Producing Artistic Director Randy Reinholz (Choctaw*) and Founder/Producing Executive Director Jean Bruce Scott, is the country's only Equity theater company dedicated exclusively to producing new works by Native American Playwrights and performed by Native actors. It maintains successful long-term relationships with New York's The Public Theater, Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT), Washington's Kennedy Center and La Jolla Playhouse.

The Autry National Center is located at 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90027-1462. Readings are $10 each or $25 for a festival pass for all four plays; half price for students, senior and military; and free for Autry members. To purchase tickets, call (323) 667-2000, ext. 354 or visit www.NativeVoicesattheAutry.org.

EDITORS: Please Note

NATIVE VOICES AT THE AUTRY FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS READINGS

Cikiuteklluku (Giving Something Away)
A young Yup'ik girl from rural Alaska faces heartache when a non-Native couple adopts her baby.
Written by Holly Stanton (Yup'ik*)
Directed by Ed Bourgeois
Dramaturgy by Shelley Orr
Thursday, June 16 at 7:30 pm

Ungipamsuuka (My Story)
An Alaskan Native sculptor boldly confronts familial, cultural, and sexual trauma with the healing power of art.
Written by Susie Silook (Siberian Yupik/Inupiaq*)
Directed by Stephan Wolfert
Dramaturgy by Robert Caisley and Lauren Simon, Assistant Dramaturg
Friday, June 17 at 7:30 pm

The Bird House
Questions about family, faith, community and the very soil we live on collide in a small West Texas town.
Written by Diane Glancy (Cherokee*)
Directed by Robert Caisley
Dramaturgy by Shirley Fishman
Saturday, June 18 at 1:00 pm

The Woman Who Was Captured by Ghosts
A Cheyenne woman faces her own mortality on a metaphysical journey to a place where tradition is the best medicine.
Written by Julie Pearson-Little Thunder (Creek*)
Directed by Jere Hodgin
Dramaturgy by Julie Jensen
Saturday, June 18 at 4:00 pm

VENUE:
Wells Fargo Theater
The Autry National Center
4700 Western Heritage Way
Los Angeles, CA, 90027-1462.

TICKETS:
$10/play or $25/ four-play festival pass;
Half price for students, senior and military;
free for Autry members

INFORMATION:
(323) 667-2000, ext. 354
www.NativeVoicesattheAutry.org.

Native Voices at the Autry is the country's only Equity theatre company dedicated exclusively to producing new works by Native American Playwrights. The company has been hailed by critics as "a virtual who's who of American Indian theatre artists," "a hot bed for contemporary Native Theatre," "deeply compelling" and "a powerful and eloquent voice." Native Voices, which provides a supportive, collaborative setting for Native Theatre artists from across North America, was established as a resident company at The Autry National Center in 1999. It is widely respected in both the Native American and theatre communities for its breakthrough plays and diverse programming showcasing unique points of view within the more than 500 Native American nations in North America. Deeply committed to developing new works by beginning, emerging and established Native playwrights from across North America and seeing them fully realized, Native Voices has presented fully staged productions of 18 critically acclaimed new plays, including 13 world premieres, 7 Playwrights Retreats and 13 New Play Festivals, and more than 100 workshops and public staged readings of new plays. Native Voices is led by Founder/Producing Artistic Director Randy Reinholz (Choctaw*) and Founder/Producing Executive Director Jean Bruce Scott and maintains successful long-term relationships with New York's The Public Theater, Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT), Washington's Kennedy Center, The National Museum of the American Indian and La Jolla Playhouse.

The Autry National Center, formed in 2003 by the merger of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage with the Southwest Museum of the American Indian and the Women of the West Museum, is an intercultural history center dedicated to exploring and sharing the stories, experiences, and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West. Located in Griffith Park, the Autry's collection of over 500,000 pieces of art and artifacts, which includes the collection of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, is one of the largest and most significant in the United States. The Autry Institute includes two research libraries: the Braun Research Library and the Autry Library. Exhibitions, public programs, K-12 educational services, and publications are designed to examine critical issues of society, offering insights into solutions and the contemporary human condition through the Western historical experience.

*Refers to the artists' tribal affiliation

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