Acclaimed Native-American actress Shelia Tousey featured at the William Inge Theatre Festiva

Shelia Tousey, one of America’s foremost Native-American actors, will be a featured artist at the 30th Annual William Inge Theatre Festival in Independence, Kansas.



INDEPENDENCE, Kans. – Tousey has acted in movies, television and in theater in New York City and regional theaters across the United States. She will be on stage at the Inge Festival Thursday, April 14, in a key role in the drama “Horsedreams,” by Dael Orlandersmith, former Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of this year’s Otis Guernsey New Voicees Playwriting Award.  Tousey will also perform Saturday, April 16, at the Inge Festival’s Tribute finale, celebrating Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning playwright Marsha Norman.

The Inge Festival is the Official Theatre Festival of the State of Kansas.  It is named for the Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award-winning dramatist William Inge, who was a native of Independence, Kansas.

It is where “Broadway and Hollywood meet on the prairie,” bringing together outstanding actors, playwrights and directors from across the nation in a four-day celebration of the stage.

Shelia Tousey was born and raised on both the Menominee and Stockbridge reservations of Wisconsin.  Tousey was a New York Drama Desk Nominee for acting.  She was Artist-in-Residence at the famous New York Public Theater, where, along with Maria Vail, and in collaboration with Sam Shepard, she adapted “Bottlehouse,” a play based on the short stories and poetry of Sam Shepard.

Her most recent work was at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, in the world premiere of Marsha Norman’s new play, “The Master Butcher’s Singing Club.” She is currently writing a mini-series based on the life of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna.

Sheila was also the first recipient of the Lloyd Richards Fellowship for Acting Teachers and was a guest artist at the Yale School of Drama.  She holds an MFA from the New York University Graduate Acting Program.

Tousey appears in “Horsedreams,” by Dael Orlandersmith, a contemporary drama about an urban family coming to grips with addiction.  It is directed by Gordon Edelstein, acclaimed artistic director of the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut.  Curtain is 7:30 p.m. April 14 at the William Inge Theatre at Independence Community College.

Then, on Saturday April 16, Tousey joins three Tony winners in “Traveler in the Dark” a star-studded multi-media Tribute to Marsha Norman, written and directed by Esquire Jauchem.  Norman has written for numerous Broadway shows, including the Pulitzer-winning drama “ ‘Night Mother” and the musicals “The Secret Garden” and “The Color Purple.”

The entire festival includes historic home tours, picnics, plays performing outdoors, and numerous  and panels by professional guest artists.

Individual tickets to “Horsedreams” are $20 and admission to “Traveler in the Dark” Tribute performance is $30.  

Tickets can be purchased online at www.ingecenter.org, or by phone at (800) 842-6063 ext. 5491 weekdays 1-5 p.m.  In person, tickets are available at the Inge Center office at the Fine Arts Building, Room 123, at Independence Community College, 1057 W. College Ave., 1-5 p.m. weekdays.  The box office mailing address is The William Inge Center for the Arts, PO Box 708, Independence, Kansas, 67301.

The William Inge Center for the Arts is a participant in the New Generations Program, funded by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American theatre.

Also, this program is presented in part by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

Additional supporter include the Hallmark Corporation, the William Inge Festival Foundation, and Independence Community College.

Independence, Kansas, is located 90 miles north of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and 140 miles south of Kansas City, Missouri.