Residency to feature presentation of Frank Henry Kaash Katasse's
They Don't Talk Back
Directed by: Playhouse Leadership Council Member, Randy Reinholz
La Jolla Playhouse announces
Native Voices as its 2016/2017 resident theatre company. Spearheaded by
Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, the Resident Theatre Program
aims to encourage the artistic development of rising performing arts
organizations, while advancing and contributing to the San Diego and
Southern California
theatre scene as a whole.
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| Duane Minard (Yurok, Piaute) as Paul Sr. in Native Voices at the Autry's THEY DON'T TALK BACK, Photos by Craig Schwartz © 2016 |
Native Voices at the Autry
is the
only Equity theatre company devoted exclusively to developing and
producing new works for the stage by Native American, Alaska Native, and
First Nations playwrights. Founded in 1994 by Producing
Artistic Director Randy Reinholz (Choctaw) and Producing Executive
Director Jean Bruce Scott, Native Voices became the resident theatre
company at the Autry in 1999. The company provides a supportive,
collaborative setting for Native theatre artists from across
North America. In 2014 the company established the Native Voices
Artists Ensemble to more fully take advantage of the extraordinary
talents of its Native actors, writers, musicians, and directors. The
Ensemble is devoted to developing new work in a collaborative
process as well as supporting Native Voices’ ongoing focus on the work
of individual playwrights. Native Voices at the Autry is a member of
Actors’ Equity Association, LA Stage Alliance, and the Dramatists Guild,
and is a Constituent Theatre of Theatre Communications
Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre.
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| Front: Jennifer Bobiwash (Ojibway), Back (L-R): Román Zaragoza (Pima), Brían Pagaq Wescott (Athabascan, Yup’ik) |
As part of the residency, La Jolla Playhouse will present Native Voices at the Autry’s production of
They Don’t Talk Back, by Frank Henry Kaash Katasse (Tlingit), directed by Native Voices co-founder and Playhouse Leadership Council member
Randy Reinholz (Choctaw), in association with Alaska’s Perseverence Theatre. The show will run in the Playhouse’s Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre
May 26 – June 5.
In
Katasse’s provocative new play, a troubled teen from a broken home
receives the culture shock of a lifetime when he is sent to live and
work with his Tlingit grandparents
in a remote fishing village in Alaska. This funny, heartfelt
exploration of the meaning of family and life emerges in a contemporary
coming-of-age story.
The cast features
Jennifer Bobiwash (Ojibway) as “Linda,” Duane Minard (Yurok, Piaute) as “Paul, Sr.,”
Kholan Studi (Cherokee) as “Edward,” Brian Pagaq Wescott (Athabascan, Yup’ik) as “Tim,” and
Román Zaragoza (Pima) as “Nick.”
 | |
| Jennifer Bobiwash (Ojibway), Kholan Studi (Cherokee) |
“Having
worked with Native Voices for nearly a decade on their annual Festival
of New Plays, it’s extremely gratifying to forge a deeper relationship
with them as our latest Resident Theatre
Company and help them expand their roots in the San Diego community,”
said La Jolla
Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley.
The Resident Theatre Program
is an annual appointment at La Jolla Playhouse. Previous resident theatre companies have included
Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company, Moxie Theatre, San Diego Asian American Repertory Theater,
Eveoke Dance Theatre, Teatro Máscara Mágica and Circle Circle Dot Dot.
 |
| (L-R) Román Zaragoza (Pima), Duane Minard (Yurok, Piaute). |
The
Resident Theatre Program is part of La Jolla Playhouse’s overall
commitment to fostering artistic relationships and the development of
new work. The
Playhouse seeks to nurture both established and up-and-coming
playwrights, directors, designers and performers who are impacted by
– and who, in turn, impact –
our culture. By offering these artists resources and opportunities, such as the
Artist-in-Residence program, commissions, readings, workshops, as well as the
Page To Stage Play Development Program, the DNA New Work Series, the
Without Walls program, and others, the Playhouse has become the place to look for what’s next in American theatre.
Frank Henry Kaash Katasse
is an Alaska Native from the Tlingit clan
Tsaagweidí. Katasse is an actor, director, producer, improviser, and
playwright who received his Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre Arts from the
University of Hawaii, Mānoa in 2008. While in
Hawai’i Katasse worked with Kennedy Theatre, Kumu Kahua Theatre, and
the Cruel Theatre. In 2008 Katasse moved back to Juneau, Alaska and was
first involved with Perseverance Theatre (PT) with the Mainstage
production of
The Government Inspector. His body of work as an actor also includes world premieres of Alaska Native-themed plays
Battles of Fire and Water, Reincarnation of Stories, Cedar House, and Our Voices Will Be Heard. Other mainstage shows include
The Skin of our Teeth, Oklahoma!, and Chicago.
Frank was also involved with PT’s 2nd Stage as a director/ producer of
Vashon, and as a performer in Marisol for the University
of Alaska, Southeast. In Juneau, Katasse has performed with Theatre in
the Rough, Juneau Symphony, and Morally Improv-erished. Katasse is
currently the Board President of Juneau-Douglas
Little Theatre. Katasse is the proud recipient of the 2015 Von Marie
Atchley Excellence in Playwriting Award from Native Voices at the Autry
for his short play
Reeling. In 2015 Katasse had his play Bear in Stream read at the Leviathan Lab in NYC.
 |
 |
| Randy Reinholz. newscenter.sdsu.edu |
Randy Reinholz
is co-founder of Native Voices at the Autry. An accomplished producer,
director, playwright and actor, he has produced
and directed over 75 plays directing productions nationally and
internationally at Native Voices at the Autry in Los Angeles, La Jolla
Playhouse, Public Theatre in New York, National Museum of the American
Indian in New York and Washington D.C, Idyllwild Arts,
CA, The Gilcrease Museum, OK, The Cherokee Casino, The Glenbow Museum,
Calgary, Alberta, The 30th International Theatre Institute World
Congress, for United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico, 16th ASSITEJ
World Congress and Performing Arts Festival in Adelaide, Australia, and
Queensland State Library, Brisbane, Australia, and University
productions for Cornell University, Duke University, University of Miami
Ohio, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Illinois
State University and San Diego State University where he served as Head
of Acting, then Director for the School of Theater, Television and Film
and as Director of Community Engagement and Innovative Programs for the
College of Professional Studies and Fine
Arts.
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| Jean Bruce Scott (@jeanbscott) Twitter |
Jean Bruce Scott
is co-founder and the Producing Executive Director of Native Voices at
the Autry. She has produced 30 premieres, 21
New Play Festivals, 12 Playwrights Retreats, more than 200 play
readings, and 20 national and international tours. She is co-creator of
the Native Radio Theater Project, a collaboration between Native Voices
and Native American Public Telecommunications, and
developed the Alaska Native Playwrights Project. Her illustrious
background includes extensive theatre credits, as well as serving as
president of Sine Bahn Productions, an independent production company
noted for developing screenplays, teleplays, and stage
plays. Familiar for numerous lead and recurring acting roles on Days of Our Lives; Magnum, P.I.; Port Charles; Newhart; Matlock; Airwolf; and
St. Elsewhere, she has guest-starred on a multitude of other
series and television movies. She is a past member of the L.A. Board of
Directors for AFTRA and served on the SAG Local Hollywood American
Indian Committee, currently Scott is on the Leadership
Board of the Theatrical Producer’s League of Los Angeles, Large
Theatres, the National Advisory Board for the Last Frontier Theatre
Conference and is an elected member to the National Theatre Conference,
New York.
For tickets/info, please visit LaJollaPlayhouse.org
or call (858) 550-1010 for more information.
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