Plays About the Native American Experience

Contemporary theatre made, for, by and about indigenous peoples becoming more prevalent on North American stages means more chances for Native actors and creatives to bring their own lived experience to life through works that are written from a place of authenticity and deep care. Yet, most theatres have yet to program a play by an Indigenous playwright for their stage or don’t have a strong relationship with the Native actors and creatives in their area. Let’s change that together!

Whether heartfelt, healing, or humorous, these thought-provoking works ask audiences to listen with intention to the layered histories, languages and traditions that preceded the United States, as well as to the contemporary experiences of those peoples. Celebrate and uplift First Nations, Native American and Indigenous voices from all across Turtle Island with these plays that focus on the stories of Native characters and communities – and then bring them to your stage next season!

Coyote Tales by Allan Hayton and Daniel Elihu Kramer (US)
(Short Play, Comedy / 16 any gender youth)
A lively journey through Native American stories of Coyote, the trickster. Coyote is always trying to trick someone, but things rarely turn out quite as he plans. To attempt to get a new name from the Spirit Chief, Coyote embarks on a series of shenanigans, including making human beings, posing as a baby to steal light for them, running into trouble getting his eyes back, stealing salmon from arguing sisters and trying to marry the most beautiful woman in the world. Traditional stories of all kinds come to life in this engaging short play for young audiences.

Crocodile Day by P.C. Verrone (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 4m)
In this reimagining of Peter Pan from the perspective of Neverland’s Indigenous tribe, twins Tho and Satesan are tasked with summoning Crocodile to their people’s most treasured celebration: Crocodile Day! But things quickly spiral out of control on an island filled with pesky fairies, greedy pirates, deadly mermaids and that annoying flying boy. To save Crocodile Day, Tho and Satesan must find the strength to overcome their doubts and tell their own story in this family-friendly theatrical journey.

Manahatta by Mary Kathryn Nagle (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 4m)
A gripping journey from the fur trade of the 1600s to the stock trade of today, Manahatta tells the story of Jane Snake, a brilliant young Native American woman who reconnects with her ancestral homeland, known as Manahatta, when she moves from her home with the Delaware Nation in Anadarko, Oklahoma to New York for a job at a major investment bank in 2008. Jane’s struggle to reconcile her new life with the expectations and traditions of the family she left behind is powerfully interwoven with the heartbreaking history of how the Lenape were forced from their land.

Sneaky by William S. Yellow Robe, Jr. (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 4m)
Frank, Eldon and Kermit may not always get along, but they agree on one thing: their late mother wanted a traditional Assiniboine burial. Trouble is, her body is about to be prepared at the local funeral home. Can these three contentious brothers come together to honor her final request? A bitingly funny dark comedy about the lengths a family will go to in support of one another.

For more plays by the late playwright who is one of the foremost indigenous voices in the American Theatre, visit The William S. Yellow Robe, Jr. Collection (US/UK).

Thanks Granny, Love Coyote by Dillon Yruegas (US)
(Monologue, Dramatic Comedy / 1gnc adult)
In this monologue, a grandson lights a candle and connects with his grandmother’s spirit. This piece was written as part of the finale of the third annual Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival by Coahuiltecan theatremaker Dillon Yruegas and offers a great monologue opportunity for genderqueer Native performers.)

The Council by William S. Yellow Robe, Jr. (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 4m)
This small ensemble piece commissioned and originally produced by Seattle Children’s Theatre and Honolulu Theatre for Youth tells the story about how Man was able to evolve with the help of the nations of animals that lived in harmony with one another. As Man and his nation grow, their harmony with animals quickly diminishes, calling into question the right relationship between the two. This fable for the stage utilizes a “deft mixture of hard-bitten reality, humor, and a penetrating yet poignant dramatic vision” (Native Peoples) to investigate the primordial relationship between humans and other animal nations.

The Democracy Project by Tanya Barfield, Lisa D’Amour, Larissa Fasthorse, Melissa James Gibson, Michael R. Jackson and Bruce Norris (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w, 3m, 2 any gender)
This dynamic, provocative play co-created by six celebrated theatre makers – including Sicangu Lakota Nation playwright Larissa FastHorse – to honor Federal Hall in New York City asks big questions about America’s land, its inhabitants and ownership. As the production begins to unravel, the actor portraying Chief of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Alexander McGillvray starts to wonder if going back to our nation’s roots means that everyone but the Indigenous people should leave, which opens up bigger questions about the country’s land, its inhabitants and ownership. Democracy is like theatre: Sometimes the collaboration is smooth, sometimes messy, sometimes hilarious, sometimes unnerving – but you’ll get a show nonetheless.

The Star Quilter by William S. Yellow Robe, Jr. (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 2w)
When Montana local Luanne Jorgensen asks Mona Gray, a member of the Assiniboine tribe, to make a star quilt for a senator, Mona agrees. But the gift’s meaning is lost on its buyer, and, over time, Luanne and Mona’s relationship begins to consume Mona’s friends, family and well-being. The Star Quilter grapples with the effect consumerism has on Indigenous populations, asking whether integrity is more valuable than money. For more plays by the same author, visit The William S. Yellow Robe, Jr. Collection (US/UK).

The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 2m)
Good intentions collide with absurd assumptions in Larissa FastHorse’s wickedly funny satire, as a troupe of terminally “woke” teaching artists scrambles to create a pageant that somehow manages to celebrate both Turkey Day and Native American Heritage Month. A cast of four is all that’s required to bring to life the “familiar, whitewashed story of Pilgrims and Native Americans chowing down together [that] gets a delicious roasting from expert farceurs” (The New York Times).

Where We Belong by Madeline Sayet (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1 any gender Native actor)
A celebration of language and investigation into the impulses that divide and connect us as people. The play follows Achokayis, a member of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, as she travels to England to pursue a degree in Shakespeare, grappling with the question of what it means to remain or leave home. Moving between nations that have failed to reckon with their ongoing roles in colonialism, she finds comfort in the journeys of her Mohegan ancestors who traveled to England in the 1700s to help her people. Achokayis’ transformational journey leaves us with the question: What does it mean to belong in an increasingly globalized world?

To learn more about Indigenous theatre and performance art, peruse this resource guide compiled by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education.

For more plays about the Native American experience to bring to your stage, visit Concord Theatricals in the US or the UK.