By Phoebe Farris (Powhatan-Pamunkey)
The Mosaic Theater Company of Washington, D.C., in partnership with New Native Theatre, has produced the play “Nancy,” written by Rhiana Yazzie (Dine/Navajo) and directed by Ken Matt-Martin. Yazzie is a playwright, director, filmmaker, and Inventive Director of New Native Theatre, which she began in 2009 with the aim of creating skilled connections between the Minneapolis Twin Cities’ theaters and the city Native American neighborhood. One other of her performs, “The Different Kids of the Solar” will premiere on the Kennedy Middle in January 2025. Yazzie additionally directed the U.S. premiere of the opera “Lacking,” a narrative a few Lacking and Murdered Indigenous Girl in 2023. Her first function movie, “A Winter of Love,” was proven on the 2021 Pocahontas Movie Competition and is now taking part in in world movie festivals.
“Nancy” is a sequel to certainly one of Yazzie’s earlier works, “Queen Cleopatre and Princess Pocahontas.” “Nancy” is ready in 1985 in Washington, D.C., and focuses on two ladies making an attempt to navigate their careers and private lives. First Girl Nancy Reagan (performed by Lynn Hawley) is within the White Home managing President Reagan’s insurance policies in line with astrological predictions, whereas Esmeralda (performed by Anaseini Katoa), a Navajo mom, is making an attempt to advocate for Native American financial alternatives through Native American women-owned companies. Intersecting these two worlds is Nancy Reagan’s declare to be a descendant of the historic Virginia Indigenous girl, Pocahontas (Pamunkey).
‘Anaseini Katoa as Esmeralda and Lynn Hawley as Nancy Reagan. Picture by Chris Banks. Directed by Ken-Matt Martin, Set design by Mischa Kachman, Lighting Design by Sherrice Mojgani, Costume Design by Moyenda Kulemeka, Props Design by Chelsea Dean and Projections Design by Hailey LaRoe.
The opposite forged members are Regina Aquino, Michael Kevin Darnall, Derek Garza (Wichita/Comanche/Latino), Jen Olivares (Juaneno Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation), and Tenley Stitzer.
The complexities of racial and ethnic identification are explored in scenes all through the play. One notably resonant scene entails a dialogue between Esmeralda and Joey (performed by Jen Olivares), a fair-skinned Norwegian girl of Hopi descent, as they talk about who’s one of the best individual to advocate for woman-owned Indigenous companies. Esmeralda says, “Nobody sees me; I’m invisible,” and Joey counters, “It’s helpful to have somebody who seems to be like me be the Indian,” in regard to making use of for enterprise loans. This dialogue results in a dialogue of the 1924 Virginia Racial Purity Act forbidding interracial marriages except for descendants of Pocahontas, who had been labeled as white and allowed to marry different white folks.
‘Anaseini Katoa as Esmeralda, Tenley Stitzer as Jacqueline and Derek Garza as Whaley. Picture by Chris Banks.
A placing a part of the stage dressing is a recreation of a Navajo sand portray suspended above the stage. Utilized in therapeutic ceremonies, these grains of coloured sand are thought-about dynamic, dwelling, non secular entities, sacred beings that give power to sick folks whereas absorbing their sickness. After the ceremony is accomplished, the portray is historically destroyed by the drugs man attributable to its absorption of toxicity. Senior Inventive Producer for New Native Theatre, Charli Idiot Bear, defined, “For that motive, many recreations of sand work aren’t precise replicas of the normal design used on this ceremony.”
Michael Kevin Darnell as Ed and Jen Olivares. Picture by Chris Banks.
One other distinctive facet of the manufacturing is the usage of an organization Elder, Rose Powhatan (Pamunkey/Tauxenent descent). “I discovered my position because the Elder of the manufacturing to be mutually helpful to Mosaic’s workers, forged members, and myself since I’m a seasoned knowledge keeper, in addition to an activist/advocate for the humanities, social justice, voting rights, and each native and world neighborhood Indigenous and gender rights,” she commented.
“Nancy” is a humorous reflection on the Reagan years and their political affect on Indian nation. Powerful points reminiscent of mining on Native lands, identification politics, and race and gender-based discrimination are explored in a balanced method that leaves the viewers feeling optimistic, but conscious of the fact that these points are nonetheless hurting us and require our persevering with activism for Indigenous rights.
L-R: Playwright Rhiana Yazzie (Dine/Navajo) with Rose Powhatan (Pamunkey/Tauxenent), the Firm Elder. Picture by Phoebe Farris.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Atlas Performing Arts Middle stands on the normal land of the Nacotchtank folks and neighbors the ancestral lands of the Piscataway and Pamunkey peoples. This acknowledgment is in tribute to these peoples, previous and current.
–Phoebe Mills Farris, Ph.D. (Powhatan-Pamunkey) is a Purdue College Professor emerita, photographer, and freelance artwork critic.
Prime picture: ‘Anaseini Katoa as Esmeralda and Lynn Hawley as Nancy Reagan. Picture by Chris Banks.
