Native Voices 2024
Presenting two Native Voices events for San Diego audiences in 2024
Continuing more than two decades of partnership with Native Voices, La Jolla Playhouse is proud to present two events for San Diego audiences in 2024.
30th Festival of New Plays
It’s Native Voices’ 30th Anniversary! What started as a small festival celebrating three Indigenous playwrights in 1994 has grown to become one of the most renowned Native theaters in the country. In 2024, they are celebrating the 30th Festival of New Plays, the 15th Short Play Festival, the first EMBERS: Young Native Playwrights program, the first Director Mentorship program, and their 30th world-premiere production.
Native Voices’ Festival of New Plays is a ten-day residency where playwrights are partnered with an artistic team, a dramaturg and professional actors to explore their scripts in front of an audience.
La Jolla Playhouse is thrilled and honored to be a partner for the 30th Festival of New Plays, celebrating inspiring and talented Indigenous playwrights as they regale us with their stories of being Native today.
The festival includes:
NEVER SAY DIE
by Jennifer Bobiwash (Mississauga First Nation)
After a decade and a half of self-imposed detachment, the world’s standstill prompts one woman to revisit her past. Returning to the hometown she once walked away from, she is reunited with old friends and family members stirring a mix of emotions, memories, and tensions. Is blood thicker than water? Can we break past cycles or are we doomed to repeat them?
Sunday, Aug 11, 1pm
Located offsite at the Handlery Hotel
950 Hotel Cir N, San Diego, CA 92108
Free to attend
Tickets for this reading are currently sold out. Some tickets may become available, so check back periodically.
FEAST FOR THE DEAD
by Madeline Easley (Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma)
After the fall of the Indian Child Welfare Act in the days leading up to the zombie apocalypse, Kay was illegally adopted out of her Tribe by a wealthy family who then abandoned her when they escaped the carnage by sea. Seven years later, Kay is a thriving citizen of a Confederacy of Tribes who took over governance of Turtle Island after the settler government fell. Just as suddenly as they appeared, the zombies disintegrate, and the one percent return from the sea, ready to re-colonize. The only solution? Revive the centuries-old, Huron-Wendat tradition of holding a Feast for the Dead.
Sunday, Aug 11, 4pm
Located offsite at the Handlery Hotel
950 Hotel Cir N, San Diego, CA 92108
Free to attend
Past Event: EMBERS Young Native Playwrights Festival
La Jolla Playhouse and Native Voices invite you to celebrate the heritage, perspectives and stories of Indigenous youth.
Since time immemorial, Indigenous people have been known to be the keepers of the First Fire and the first stories of Turtle Island. When we share stories, we create community and family. We honor the past while imagining a better future. Our stories state that we are, have been, and will always be here.
To honor this heritage, Native Voices is excited to announce EMBERS, their Young Native Playwrights Festival. During an eight-week course, Native youth in grades 7-12 will learn valuable playwriting skills which they will use to create their own short plays that – in partnership with the Playhouse – will be performed onstage at the Handlery Hotel in San Diego, as well as livestreamed for the world to see.
Sunday, June 16, 2pm
Located offsite at the Handlery Hotel
950 Hotel Cir N, San Diego, CA 92108
Free parking in front of the hotel
Free to attend, reservations required
Max 4 tickets per person
About Native Voices
Native Voices is devoted to developing and producing new works for the stage by Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and First Nations playwrights. Native Voices provides a supportive, collaborative setting for Native theatre artists from across North America and is committed to putting Native narratives at the center of the American story in order to facilitate a more inclusive dialogue on what it means to be American.
Find out more information about Native Voices at The Autry Museum of the American West.
Native Voices at La Jolla Playhouse is sponsored by the Prebys Foundation.
Photo credit: Becks Falk Photography
