Every week we will be sharing new plays by our Heal the Divide playwrights. This week’s play is To History: One, by Los Angeles playwright Jaisey Bates
TO HISTORY
/ To Whom It
May Concern.
One: War
/ Paint
This Letter
was inspired by
a friend’s FB post
re: a Native play
silenced by
a new sculpture
based on a scaffold
that silenced
Natives’ lives.
Here’s a quote from her post (also included with her permission in the ensemble spoken word poem play):
“NOBODY came to our event tonight because our ENTIRE audience went to protest at the Walker instead of celebrating OUR own Native-made art right here. A perfect example of how our communities of color are forced over and over to defend our people and histories and to educate at the expense of celebrating our own vitality.” — Rhianna Yazzie, Founder, New Native Theatre, MN
Here’s the goal of this Letter:
“Putting the history side-by-side to the night when people from the Native community had to choose to either celebrate who we are or fight for our voices to be heard.” — Vanessa Goodthunder (Dakota), Company Member, New Native Theatre
To learn about New Native Theatre:
newnativetheatre.org