Event Is Part Of Native Voices’ Signature First Look Series: Plays In Process

Thursday, September 26, 7:30 p.m.

Wells Fargo Theater at The Autry National Center, Los Angeles



Native Voices at the Autry continues its vital role as the country’s only equity theatre company dedicated exclusively to developing the work of Native American playwrights with a free staged reading of STAND OFF AT HWY #37, a new play by Vickie Ramirez (Tuscarora*) on Thursday, September 26, 2013, 7:30 pm, at the Wells Fargo Theater at The Autry National Center in Griffith Park.  The reading, which is followed by an audience "Talk-Back" with Ramirez and the director, is part of Native Voices' signature FIRST LOOK SERIES: Plays in Process, which brings playwrights together with professional directors, dramaturgs, and actors for a workshop and public presentation at the Autry, providing an important next step in the play’s development.



A dramatic tale about political, environmental and spiritual convictions, STAND OFF AT HWY #37 begins when a clash between protesters and law enforcement over plans to build a highway through a reservation in upstate New York prompts a Tuscarora man to abandon his U.S. military uniform and join the protesters to defend his beliefs.  Initially created as a one-act play for the 9th Annual Theater Festival at Ohio Northern University, Standoff received a staged reading in Ohio in 2011, followed by a table reading at the Public Theatre in 2012 as well as a workshop at the Classical Theatre of Harlem.  Ramirez subsequently extended it to a full-length play, which received its first reading at the Native Voices at the Autry’s Festival of New Plays in May 2013.  Standoff was also featured at Montana Rep’s Missoula Colony workshop in July 2013. 



Ramirez, an alumna of the Public Theater’s Emerging Writer’s Group 2009, is a member of Chukalokoli Native Theater Ensemble and Amerinda Theater.  Her plays include Smoke, Ashes, The Varlettes vs. the Space Rock, Case 24: Roswell, NM and Leona by the Bayou.  Her screenplays include MonkeyDog, and Lotto Munney.  She is the recipient of the 2009/2010 NYC Urban Artists Fellowship and the 2010 NYSCA Individual Artist Award.  Her work has been presented at the Public Theater, the Flea, Ohio Northern University, Santa Fe Theatre Festival, the Roundabout Theater’s Different Voices Program, EST, BOO-Arts, Mixed Phoenix Theater Company and the 52nd Street Project.



NATIVE VOICES AT THE AUTRY is America’s leading Native American theatre company.  Acclaimed by critics as “a hotbed for contemporary Native theatre,” “deeply compelling” and “a powerful and eloquent voice,” the company continues to build on its storied and prolific history as the country’s only Equity theatre company dedicated exclusively to developing and producing new works by Native American playwrights.  Native Voices, which provides a supportive, collaborative setting for Native theatre artists from across North America, was founded in 1994 by Producing Artistic Director Randy Reinholz (Choctaw*) and Producing Executive Director Jean Bruce Scott.  In 1999, it was established as Native Voices at the Autry, a resident company at the Autry National Center of the American West. Native Voices maintains successful long-term relationships with New York’s Public Theater, Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT), Washington’s Kennedy Center, the National Museum of the American Indian, Perseverance Theatre, the Alaska Native Heritage Center, Montana Rep and La Jolla Playhouse.  Hailed by critics also as “a virtual Who’s Who of American Indian theatre artists” and “an established presence in Los Angeles and a growing influence elsewhere,” Native Voices is widely respected in both the Native American and theatre communities for its breakthrough plays and diverse programming, which showcases the unique points of view within the more than 500 Native American nations in North America.  To date, the company has produced 22 critically acclaimed new plays, including 15 world premieres, 10 Playwrights Retreats, 20 New Play Festivals, 2 Short Play Festivals and more than 150 workshops and public staged readings of new plays by Native American playwrights featuring Native American actors.



THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER is a museum dedicated to exploring and sharing the stories, experiences, and perceptions of the diverse peoples of the American West, connecting the past to the present to inspire our shared future. The museum presents a wide range of exhibitions and public programs, which include lectures, film, theatre, festivals, family events, and music, and performs scholarship, research, and educational outreach. The Autry’s collection of more than 500,000 pieces of art and artifacts includes the Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection, one of the largest and most significant of Native American materials in the United States.



NATIVE VOICES AT THE AUTRY is located at The Autry National Center, 4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90027-1462. 



Admission to the reading of STAND OFF AT HWY #37 is free.  For reservations or additional information, call 323 667-2000, ext. 299, or visit www.NativeVoicesattheAutry.org.