Description
Book SynopsisThis 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 perform
Trade ReviewThis volume is the newest, and in many ways, most impressive, achievement in the scholarly field of American Indian theatre critical studies and research. The overall approach the authors have taken, one that emphasizes Native critical and dramaturgical frameworks rather than the western notions of theatre and performance that have long been imposed on scholarly readings of Native theatre, enlarges and, in my view, enriches the body of scholarship available for use by college students, academics, theatre artists and tribal educators and community builders. * Hanay Geiogamah, Professor of Theatre, UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television, USA *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Foreword Acknowledgements Part One: Setting the Stage 1. The Circle of Indigenous Spaces 2. Incursions into Performance Cultures Part Two: Reclaiming the Stage 3. Culture Bearers: The Grandmothers of Native Theatre and Performance 4. Homeland Yearnings Across Settings Part Three: Revolutionizing the Stage 5. Activating the Stage 6. Advancing the Stage 7. The Heart of the Matter: Indigenous Performance and Community Part Four: Transforming the Stage8. Transforming Production Process 9. Being and Becoming 10. Expanding the Circle with Future Generations
Bibliography Notes Index
