Capping Off Diane Glancy Week

As you know, last week we kicked off our 2010 First Look Series with a workshop and reading of Diane Glancy's newest play The Bird House. We've developed and produced three plays by Diane in the past and are extremely excited to begin yet another journey with her. In addition, we held an in-house reading of yet another new play by Diane, The Catch, which she's creating in collaboration with long-time Native Voices' Costume Designer Christina Wright.

Needless to say, it was a busy, busy week for Native Voices. The script we began our Wednesday evening workshop with for Bird House was completely re-written for our Thursday afternoon rehearsal and the public reading of the play held later that night was actually only the second time it had been heard out loud in its entirety. Talk about first look!

On Friday, we had to place our Bird thoughts aside in order to explore the depths of The Catch, a play based on the ledger- book drawings of Bear's Heart who was imprisoned at Fort Marion, Florida during The Trail of Tears. We assembled an incredible group of artists to aid Diane and Chris as they continue their examination of voice, clothing, and Native education. Many thanks to Vincent Scott who joined us from the National Museum of the American Indian to direct the piece as well as Kim Walters from the Southwest Musuem of the American Indian who hosted the event. Of course, I have to mention our lovely cast of actors - Robert Greygrass, Kalani Queypo, Adeye Sahran, DeLanna Studi, and Noah Watts - for their creative energies and valuable insights.

Throughout the week, Diane was so gracious with everyone's comments and feedback - surprisingly, not every playwright is like that. But what Native Voices is able to do for its artists is create a safe place that inspires creativity; an open space where we can all be heard. And it is within these spaces that the magic of play development takes place.