Critical Companion to Native American and First Nations Theatre and Performance: Indigenous Spaces

by Jaye T. Darby, Courtney Elkin Mohler, Christy Stanlake

This foundational study offers an accessible introduction to Native American and First Nations theatre by drawing on critical Indigenous and dramaturgical frameworks. It is the first major survey book to introduce Native artists, plays, and theatres within their cultural, aesthetic, spiritual, and socio-political contexts. Native American and First Nations theatre weaves the spiritual and aesthetic traditions of Native cultures into diverse, dynamic, contemporary plays that enact Indigenous human rights through the plays' visionary styles of dramaturgy and performance. The book begins by introducing readers to historical and cultural contexts helpful for reading Native American and First Nations drama, followed by an overview of Indigenous plays and theatre artists from across the century. Finally, it points forward to the ways in which Native American and First Nations theatre artists are continuing to create works that advocate for human rights through transformative Native performance practices.

Addressing the complexities of this dynamic field, this volume offers critical grounding in the historical development of Indigenous theatre in North America, while analysing key Native plays and performance traditions from the mainland United States and Canada. In surveying Native theatre from the late 19th century until today, the authors explore the cultural, aesthetic, and spiritual concerns, as well as the political and revitalization efforts of Indigenous peoples. This book frames the major themes of the genre and identifies how such themes are present in the dramaturgy, rehearsal practices, and performance histories of key Native scripts.

280 pages, Paperback

Published February 6, 2020

Reviews

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great survey of Indigenous North American theatre and performance, which remains a seriously understudied field. The authors bring together a lot of key threads, including the broad history of repression and erasure faced by Native American and First Nations peoples, the role of culture/performance in preserving traditions and identity, and the importance of Indigenous dramaturgy. The book looks at a number of different Indigenous performers, playwrights, and theatre artists from the mid-1800s through early 21st century, drawing comparisons and contrasts about how Native performance has been used to resist, undermine, or educate European rooted US and Canadian cultures. During the late 1800s-early 1900s, Indigenous performers often worked in things like Wild West shows, which allowed them to engage in their own cultural traditions (like dances and songs) which had been criminalized by the US and Canadian governments in an attempt to erase Indigenous cultures. Then in the 1960s-70s there was a major revival of Indigenous performance alongside the rise of the Red Power Movement. These shows, demonstrations, and protests followed the logic of agit-prop and Black Arts theatre by utilizing highly didactic political content. Then from the 1980s largely through today Indigenous theatre-making diversified. There definitely still are agit-prop style political performances, but there are also shows that focus more on depicting life on reservations or for Indigenous people in urban centers, or shows about the horrors of the residential schools, or the on-going impacts of poverty and alcoholism. These plays focus much more on creating connections, both between Indigenous people and communities and with the larger Settler communities. They also focus on educating and validating Native experiences, more often than being political condemnations.

Another big aspect of this book is the focus on what the authors call "Native dramaturgy," which is characterized by a focus on the historical and contemporary experiences of Indigenous North Americans, especially with an intention to decolonize. Stylistically, Native dramaturgy includes "reimaginings of ancient cosmological truths, storytelling that traverses multiple eras, the careful unraveling of master narratives, and the utilization of the metaphorical and literal power of the circle to create ceremony" (6). In other words, the focus is on using the power of language, ritual, and tradition to challenge the cultural violence and erasure that has so often been deployed against Indigenous people in Canada and the US as a way of building community through shared experience and shared ceremony. In particular, Native dramaturgy makes much more use of cycles, cyclical plotlines, and non-linear narratives than Western dramaturgy typically does, which allows for explorations of characters' and communities' experiences, in contrast to the hero's journey through a conflict model.