{"id":44226,"date":"2021-10-15T12:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T18:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/fort-lewis-stages-native-american-plays\/"},"modified":"2021-10-15T18:25:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T18:25:00","slug":"fort-lewis-stages-native-american-plays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/fort-lewis-stages-native-american-plays\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Lewis stages Native American Plays"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Fort
Fort Lewis College senior Tyler Gleason will direct one of the three short plays in \u201cNative American Stories for All Ages.\u201d (Courtesy of Judith Reynolds)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

In 2020, Gleason was cast as Allen Van Oss, a buttoned-down government official In Lee Blessing\u2019s taut political drama \u201cTwo Rooms.\u201d In contrast, he played Pig #3 in the Sandstone Production of \u201cShrek The Musical.\u201d Stepping up to stage management, Gleason has assisted various departmental directors, worked as a summer intern in PlayFest and now takes directorial charge of one of the upcoming plays in \u201cNative American Stories for all Ages.\u201d<\/p>\n

FLC will mount three short works as part of a celebration of Native American Theatre from Oct. 15 through 23.<\/p>\n

Gleason was on the play selection committee with faculty and students who chose works for production this fall: \u201cWild Horses,\u201d by Rhiana Yazzie; \u201cBuffalo Tricks\u201d by Alan Kilpatrick; and \u201cChief Tender-Foot,\u201d by Annawyn Shamas, which Gleason will direct.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been our goal to cast all Indigenous identifying people in all the plays,\u201d Gleason said of the entire project. \u201cI was able to do that, and I feel so lucky. I\u2019m directing \u2018Chief Tender-Foot.\u2019 It\u2019s a show for children\u2019s theater, and it\u2019s about a chief whose feet hurt all the time. So, it\u2019s a problem-solving play.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the evening performances and one matinee for the general public, FLC faculty, staff members and students, the college will bus Durango School District 9-R elementary students, third through fifth grade, to see the stories for all ages.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so excited,\u201d Gleason said. \u201cThis program illustrates how important Native American storytelling is for younger generations and how we as a theater department can make stories new again. When I first read the script, it spoke to me right away. The humor made me laugh out loud, and I could see myself as the director.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is so much negative energy in the world today. This is a good-heart story, and I\u2019m delighted to make my directorial debut with this play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Written by Annawyn Shamas, 86, a Chickasaw elder and theater artist who earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at Oklahoma State University and in the mid-1960s joined the staff. Early in her career, she directed the Tribal Youth Theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and later directed plays for the American Indian Theatre Company. Shamas is a past president of the Oklahoma Community Theatre Association.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Chief Tenderfoot\u2019 is the first play I\u2019ve written for Native American youth,\u201d Shamas said in a recent email. \u201cIt is a Nez Perse legend; the story of how the first moccasins came to be. Fort Lewis College must be commended for its sensitivity to our Indigenous citizens and its recognition that this history for far too long has been mischaracterized or simply devalued or ignored.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a happy relationship with Tyler Gleason, the director of my play who contacted me regarding script choices. I am a director who values a relationship with a playwright. Things are learned and worked out which can only happen during the rehearsal process. I am looking forward to seeing Tyler\u2019s imprint upon \u2018Tenderfoot.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

If you go<\/h4>\n

WHAT: <\/strong> Native American Stories for All Ages.<\/p>\n

WHERE: <\/strong> Mainstage, Fort Lewis College Theatre.<\/p>\n

WHEN: <\/strong> 7:30 p.m. October 15, 16, 21, 22, 23 and 2 p.m Sunday.<\/p>\n

TICKETS: <\/strong> Adults $16, FLC faculty and staff $10, FLC students with ID free. Available at https:\/\/durangoconcerts.com.<\/p>\n

MORE INFORMATION: <\/strong> Visit www.fortlewis.edu\/theatre or call 247-7089.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Shamas has two daughters, Ellen and Laura, who are active in the resurgence of Native American playwriting.<\/p>\n

\u201cEllen and I are planning a collaborative theater work of Chickasaw legends for youth,\u201d Shamas said. \u201cMy daughter, Laura, whose work is extensive, has several Native American plays on her resume, among them \u2018Talking Leaves\u2019 about Cherokee leader Sequoyah who created the Cherokee writing system and \u2018Chasing Honey,\u2019 which deals with the disappearance of the bee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laura Annawyn Shamas has published more than 40 plays. She received her doctorate in 2003, and her thesis, \u201cThe Mythology of Shakespeare\u2019s Weird Sisters,\u201d was published in 2007. Her 2012 book, \u201cPop Mythology,\u201d is a collection of her published essays about the power of mythology in modern life.<\/p>\n

Shamas said she is looking forward to seeing the FLC production during the final weekend of performances.<\/p>\n

Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lewis College senior Tyler Gleason will direct one of the three short plays in \u201cNative American Stories for All Ages.\u201d (Courtesy of Judith Reynolds) In 2020, Gleason was cast as Allen Van Oss, a buttoned-down government official In Lee Blessing\u2019s taut political drama \u201cTwo Rooms.\u201d In contrast, he played Pig #3 in the Sandstone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1060,132,28,910],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-44226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arts-entertainment","tag-fort-lewis-college","tag-headlines","tag-theatre"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44226"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=44226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}