Photo Flash: First Look at 'DON'T FEED THE INDIANS' at La MaMa

La MaMa presents the world premiere of Safe Harbors Indigenous Collective's Don't Feed the Indians: A Divine Comedy Pageant, conceived, written and directed by Murielle Borst-Tarrant (Kuna/Rappahannock Nations), with musical direction by Kevin Tarrant (Hopi/Ho-Chunk Nations), and featuring an all Native American cast.

Don't Feed the Indians: A Divine Comedy Pageant opens tonight, November 3, and runs now through November 19, 2017 in a limited engagement at La MaMa's Downstairs Theatre, located at 66 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue and the Bowery in New York City. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Come one, come all to the greatest sideshow of Indigenous people you'll ever see! We've got everyone's favorite Native clichés from the Stoic Indian to the Wise Indian Guide, from lounge singers to fortunetellers, all the bare chested, broad shouldered, feather wearing Indians you could want...but this time with a twist. Don't Feed the Indians: A Divine Comedy Pageant uses vaudeville, dance, musical theatre, storytelling and Native performance rituals to expose and explore the treatment of Indigenous cultures in the entertainment industry. Created by a family of three generations of Native American performers, and inspired by the carnival freak shows and human zoos of the 19th and early 20th century, Don't Feed the Indians is a raucous and biting look at cultural appropriation at its most grotesque and absurd. See what happens when the Natives fight back!

The all Native American cast includes Nicholson Billey (Delaware/Choctaw Nations), Murielle Borst-Tarrant (Kuna/Rappahannock Nations), John Scott-Richardson (Haliwa-Saponi Tribe), Danielle Soames (Mohawk/Kahnawake Nations), Henu Josephine Tarrant (Hopi/Ho-Chunk/Kuna/Rappahannock Nations) and Kevin Tarrant (Hopi/Ho-Chunk Nations).

The production team includes Dawn Avery (Composer, Mohawk Nation), Sheldon Raymore (Costume Design, Lakota Nation), Ann Mirjam Vaikla (Set Design), Cecilia Durbin (Lighting Design), Nicholson Billey (Movement), Obie Award winner Morgan Jenness (Dramaturge) and Pamela McCaddin (Production Stage Manager).

For tickets and more information, visit lamama.org.

Photo Credit: Maya Bitan

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