BETWEEN TWO KNEES Sketch Comedy Show Announced At McCarter Theatre

McCarter invites audiences to start the New Year laughing with the outrageously funny and wickedly subversive tale of familial love, loss and connection: Between Two Knees, by acclaimed intertribal sketch comedy troupe The 1941's and directed by Eric Ting.

The production is on stage at McCarter's Matthews Theatre starting January 31, through February 13. Smashing through where most textbooks stop teaching Native history (the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee) Between Two Knees takes us from the forced re-education at Indian boarding schools, through World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam, the 1973 takeover at Wounded Knee and maybe even breaks time itself.

"I'm so thrilled to be bringing the work of the 1491's to McCarter", said McCarter Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen. "Like so many, I've been blown away by their critically acclaimed work on Reservation Dogs. Like Reservation Dogs, this is such an incredible story of family and community. It speaks to the power of comedy as a powerful tool of resistance, fostering resilience and empowering healing. We are taking comedy seriously here at McCarter."

Tickets for this limited thirteen-performance run start at $25 and are now on sale at McCarter.org or can be purchased by calling the Patron Services Office at 609-258-2787.

Heralded by audiences and critics, The Siskiyou Daily News wrote that Between Two Knees is an "uproariously funny and irreverent comedy... you have to see it for yourself." The play's premiere production - a sold-out run at Oregon Shakespeare Festival - was chronicled in the book We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy where author Kliph Nesteroff wrote "The 1491's have managed to take the least amusing subject matter imaginable and turn it into a relentless joke-driven narrative"

McCarter's production of Between Two Knees is a co-production with Seattle Rep In Association with Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Yale Repertory Theatre.

The 1491's are a sketch comedy group based in the wooded ghettos of Minnesota and buffalo grass of Oklahoma. They are a gaggle of Indians chock full of cynicism and splashed with a good dose of indigenous satire. This group of indigenous misfits originally came together to make funny videos to put on YouTube. Since their first video in 2009, the group's work has gone viral - earning fans around the globe with their satirical and absurd comedy. From sold out performances to appearances on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and TEDx Talks," the group continues to grow.

Eric Ting is an Obie Award-winning director. Recent directing credits include the world premieres of Lloyd Suh's The Far Country (Atlantic Theater Co) and Bina's Six Apples (Alliance, Children's Theater Co); Marcus Gardley's Lear (Cal Shakes); and Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower: The Opera adapted by Toshi Reagon (national and international tour). New York: Manhattan Theatre Club, Public Theater Under the Radar, BAM Next Wave, Soho Rep. Regional: Long Wharf Theatre, Hartford Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Philadelphia Theatre Co, Cincinnati Playhouse, Goodman, Victory Gardens, Denver Center, CTG, ACT, Berkeley Rep, Seattle Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival. International: Singapore, France, UAE, Holland, Canada, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bali. Upcoming: Between Two Knees (Seattle Rep)

The CREATIVE TEAM includes: Ty Defoe (Choreographer), REGINA GARCIA (Set Designer), Lux Haac (Costume Designer), Elizabeth Harper (Lighting Designer), Jake Rodriguez (Sound Designer), Shawn Duan (Projections/Media Designer), YOUNGHAWK BAUTISTA (Wig and Hair Designer), STACEY RICE (Casting Director), JULIE FELISE DUBINER (Dramaturg), Rod Kinter (Fight Director), Kelsey Rainwater (Intimacy Director), Liz Hayes (Vocal Coach), ALANIS, R. REAL VARGAS (Associate Director), AMANDA NITA LUKE-SAYED (Production Stage Manager), Kevin Jinghong Zhu (Assistant Stage Manager.)

Jennifer Bobiwash grew up in Robinson Huron Treaty Territory and is a proud member of Mississauga First Nation. She has appeared in world premiere productions of Fairly Traceable by Mary Kathryn Nagle, Bingo Hall by Dillon Chitto (Native Voices), They Don't Talk Back by Frank Henry Kaash Katasse (Native Voices and La Jolla Playhouse), Devilfish by Vera Starbard and Whalesong by Cathy Tagnak Rexford (Perseverance Theatre) as well as Yale Rep and on Tour in Northern Alaska. TV credits include; The Power, Magnum P.I. and Rutherford Falls. Jennifer is also a voice actor, who has had the opportunity to narrate children's books as well as speak her traditional language as a 7-year-old.

RACHEL CROWL Regional: As You Like It (La Jolla Playhouse); Between Two Knees (Yale Repertory Theater); The Swindlers (Baltimore Center Stage); Between Two Knees, As You Like It, Henry V, Love's Labour's Lost (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Film: And Then There Was Eve, Smiley Face Killers. TV: New Amsterdam (NBC). Voiceover: Marvel's Wastelanders: Wolverine (Red Skull), A Simple Herstory (Susan B. Anthony). She moonlights as a photographer and makes music to keep sane.

Derek Garza (He/Him) is a Native American/Mexican DC-based actor with his M.F.A. in acting from Penn State University. Recent theatre credits include People, Places & Things at Studio Theatre, The Swindlers and Our Town at Baltimore Center Stage, Between Two Knees at Yale Rep, Mother Road at Arena Stage, Othello, Romeo & Juliet, As You Like It and the world premiere of Between Two Knees at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Other theaters include Native Earth, American Repertory Theater, TimeLine Theatre, Victory Gardens, Chicago Dramatist, Video Cabaret and Steppenwolf to name a few. Derek can also be seen in TV/Films like ABC's Betrayal; NBC's Chicago Fire, Jimortal (Pilot), PowerBook II: Ghost and Canal Street. You can find out more about Derek at www.derekgarza.com.

A proud citizen of the Menominee (Omāēqnomenēw) Nation of Wisconsin, writer/actor JUSTIN "JUD" EAGLE GAUTHIER studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he earned an MFA in screenwriting. Jud provides audiences across the nation a unique worldview as an indigenous actor with undeniable pop culture acuity. Jud would like to say wāēwāēnan to all his family, friends, cast mates, crew, and audiences for helping him to become a better storyteller.

SHYLA LEFNER is an actor, writer and comedian based out of Los Angeles and is of mixed heritage (Afro-Indigenous, European, of Pamunkey and Choctaw descent). She is thrilled to be making her McCarter Theatre debut! Recent credits include Between Two Knees, Manahatta (Yale Rep); The Cymbeline Project, Alice in Wonderland, Henry V, Between Two Knees, and The Way the Mountain Moved (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Door You Never Saw Before (Geffen Playhouse TYA); Fairly Traceable, Off the Rails, The Frybread Queen (Native Voices at the Autry). Readings and workshops: Sovereignty (Theatre for a New Audience); Wonderland (Dramatists Guild); (w)holeness (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Ackia: The Complete Epic (Idyllwild Native Arts Festival); Ungipamsuuka: My Story, Our Voices Will Be Heard (La Jolla Playhouse).

Some film credits include Lies and Alibis, Whatever It Takes, Grace, Woo. Affiliations: Native Voices Artists Ensemble. @shylalefner

STEPHEN "WOTKO" LONG is known among the Muscogee people as a songkeeper of the hymns that have been passed down from times before the removal. He was taught by his father and mother to sing and lift people up with the strength and love of the ancestors with the songs in the Mvskoke language. Wotko was featured in the documentary, "This May Be The Last Time" as well as the film, "Mekko" by Sterlin Harjo. He debuted on the stage in the 1491's play "Between Two Knees" at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. Wotko has shared his knowledge of traditional culture in the Legacy camps for children and is devoted to getting away from plastics and styrofoam. He is an avid cook with an eye and heart for preparing tribal foods that nourish the body and soul. He plays "Wotko" in the acclaimed series Reservation Dogs.

JAMES RYEN The tallest Asian you've seen on this stage; James is thrilled to rejoin B2K and make his McCarter debut, having originated his roles in the world premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where he's been a company member for 7 seasons. Other OSF: Cambodian Rock Band; Vietgone; Peter and the Starcatcher; The Tempest; Revenge Song; It's Christmas, Carol!; The Cymbeline Project; As You Like It; Othello; Snow in Midsummer; Shakespeare in Love; Disney's Beauty and the Beast; The Winter's Tale. Other theatres: Cambodian Rock Band (La Jolla Playhouse); Vietgone (Seattle Rep); Fat Pig (SpeakEasy Theatre Company); Romeo and Juliet (American Repertory Theater); Hamlet (New Art Theatre); Love's Labour's Lost (Huntington Theatre Company); Arms and the Man (Lyric Stage Company); The Taming of the Shrew (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); Julius Caesar (Gamaliel Theatre Company). Film/TV: American Sniper, American Housewife, The Kill Corporation, Evidence, This Is Mortal Combat, Dark House, Shuttle, Mighty Med, The Young and The Restless, General Hospital, Anger Management, The Mentalist, Days of Our Lives, NCIS: Los Angeles, How I Met Your Mother, CSI:Miami, NCIS. Training: BFA in Acting, University of Oklahoma. @jamesryen Hoka Hey!

Shaun Taylor-Corbett (William/Ensemble/Original Choreography) I'Pyooksisstsiiko'om is proud to be a mixed-race artist of Amskapi Pikunni (Blackfeet), Scandinavian, and Black heritage as well as being a member of the Kaa Nux Im mii Taaks (Blackfeet Crazy Dog Society). He was in the original production of In the Heights on Broadway and closed the show in the role of Sonny. He played Frankie Valli in the 2nd National Tour of Jersey Boys, Juan in Altar Boyz Off-Broadway, and Usnavi/Sonny in In the Heights on the First National Tour. Bedlam Theatre Company member (Crucible, The Winter's Tale, Bedlam: the Series). His original Indigenous musical, "Distant Thunder," received its first production in 2022 with Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma at First Americans Museum, and will tour in 2023. For more information go to www.distantthunderthemusical.com. Oregon Shakespeare Festival, three seasons. Shaun is the voice of Coyote on the Netflix series Spirit Rangers. He co-narrated There There by Tommy Orange, nominated for an Audie Award in 2019, and recently narrated The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, also nominated for an Audie. TV/Film: Hi-5, Discovery Kids, Supremacy, Gamer's Guide, All My Children.

NIKCOMA LEE MAHKEWA recently burst onto national media playing multiple roles in the hit Discovery+ series Book of Queer. Previously, Nikcoma honed his craft on stage in Kansas City and Las Vegas in productions such as Godspell and Spring Awakening. Upon arriving in Los Angeles at beginning of the COVID 19 lockdown, Nikcoma pivoted to voiceover work in promos and PSAs, and in the animated series Superhero Kindergarten starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Nikcoma has recently studied acting at The Ivana Chubbuck Studio, whose namesake wrote the best-seller The Power of the Actor, which inspired Nikcoma's acting career.

John Scott-Richardson'S maternal and paternal lineage is (Saponi/Tuscarora) and is an enrolled member Haliwa-Saponi Nation of North Carolina. John received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with minor in Art and Business from Atlantic Christian College. He began theatrical and performing arts by writing/directing two youth advocacy plays through North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs (2008). John as presented at Department of Public Instruction for state of North Carolina, United Nations Environmental Awards, NY Children's Museum, Raritan Community College, Lotus Music and Dance, Whitney Museum, Park Avenue Armory, NY Children's Museum and various schools in New York City. He has assisted with the development of curriculum programs for museum educational materials. Recent theatrical training includes Asst. Dir. of Soledad written by Dr. Carolyn Dunn, stage manager and assistant producer for Reflections of Native Voices 2020. He currently works as the Artistic Director with Amerinda Inc. in NYC. John first directors' credit was two one act radio It Came Across The Big Pond and Files of the Indian Police (Amerinda). He held the position of Production Manager on a series titled' "Conversations, "a series with Native American knowledge keepers.

John's training in acting began at North Raleigh Community Theater followed by training with Safe Harbors NYC, and Amerinda Inc. NY. His Film/TV credits include Comedy Central Awards, Banshee (Cinemax), Vice Principals (HBO), The American West (AMC), Jamestown (Sky1BBC), The ReunionNY; The Heart Stays (Amerinda) The Politician (Netflix) and is SAG union member. Johns theatrical work includes Powwow Highway (Amerinda) New Circle Theater (Broadway), Dvorak in America (La Mama), Don't Feed the Indians (Safe Harbors), Mangled Beams (Amerinda), Ajijaak On Turtle Island (New Victory/Ibex Puppetry) and The Pendleton Blanket (Amerinda). John currently serves on the board of Amerinda NYC org, and Images for Inclusion. John's passions are working with the youth, Native American culture and educating the next generation. John places highest value on family. John continues the legacy of his ancestors by continuously sharing a voice and giving a perspective and more in-depth narrative.

KHOLAN STUDI was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ever since he was a child, Kholan loved entertaining folks and making them laugh and feel. In 2012, Kholan moved to Los Angeles to attend The American Academy of Dramatic Arts where he completed his studies in 2015. Since then, Kholan has worked in many productions with Native Voices at The Autry including They Don't Talk Back by Frank Henry Kaash Katasse and Bingo Hall by Dillon Chitto. Kholan was also honored to play Elias Boudinot in a production of Sovereignty by Mary Katherine Nagle at Marine Theater Company in 2019. During the pandemic, Kholan took part in Perseverance Theatre's production of Spirit of the Valley by Frank Henry Kaash Katasse. Most recently, Kholan lent his voice to Native Voices at the Autry Presents: The Adventures of Super Indian by Arigon Starr. In 2022, Kholan was an understudy for Between 2 Knees by the 1491's where he lived every actor's nightmare by taking the stage for part of the run. Kholan would like to send his love and support to all those affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The only way out of this is together.

MARIBEL TORRES (she/her) was born and raised in California's Central Valley, where her love for the performing arts began. When she was a child, her and her siblings would make movies using their parent's old-school 90's camcorder. It wasn't until Maribel's older sister took her to see her first play, Dracula, that she became serious about pursuing acting. Maribel is now an actor, writer, dancer, and musician with a B.A. in Theater Performance. An Irene Ryan double-nominee and semi-finalist, some of her projects and trainings have taken place in the West Coast and as far as Ireland. In her free time, she enjoys going to Barnes and Noble, trying new foods, going on road trips, and playing with her two dogs. She would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who made this magical moment possible.

An independent not-for-profit performing arts center located between New York City and Philadelphia - and on the campus of Princeton University - McCarter is a multi-disciplinary creative and intellectual hub offering theater, music, dance, spoken word, and educational programs for all ages that inspires conversations, connections and collaborations in our communities. We lead with our values of justice and joy, and we seek beauty in belonging. Celebrated for developing new work and winner of the 1994 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, world premieres include Christopher Durang's Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike (Tony, Best Play), Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brother/Sister Plays, Emily Mann's Having Our Say. Renowned artists who have appeared at McCarter include: Alvin Ailey, Yo-Yo Ma, Audra McDonald, David Sedaris, The Moth, Terence Blanchard, Roseanne Cash, the rock band Lake Street Dive, Shawn Colvin, more. McCarter connects with the community year-round via various community reading event opportunities, digital programming, on-site classes and in-school residencies. McCarter and Princeton University share a long history of unique partnerships and creative collaborations.

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