“Sacred Stage: Talks with Native Playwrights and Artists with DeLanna Studi & the 30th Anniversary of Native Voices at the Autry”

2024 marks the 30th Anniversary for the Native Voices at the Autry, the only Equity Theatre in the country developing and producing plays written by Native American playwrights. Since Native Voices inception, many aspiring, working, and veteran Native American playwrights, artists, and actors/actresses have benefited from having this invaluable program and resources the Autry provides for assisting Native American storyteller and storying in various forms. Located in Los Angeles County, CA, Native Voices at the Autry celebrates its accomplishments and recent partnership with the Generation Now Theater Partnership, which is comprised of BIPOC artists presently creating new artistic creations targeting multigenerational audiences. Our guest for today, joins us for the hour to discuss the 30th Anniversary of Native Voices at the Autry and its continuing legacy for providing Native American artists and aspiring artists a space in theater and the arts as well as to  the multi coalition Generation Now Theater Partnership project, the importance of Native American storytelling, upcoming Native American plays and projects, plus more. Click on the titles for more information on the Autry Museum of the West, Native Voices, and upcoming Autry events.  

Guest:

DeLanna Studi (Cherokee Nation) is an accomplished performer, storyteller, playwright, and activist for over 25 years. Some of her theater credits include the First National Broadway Tour of Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning play August: Osage County, Off-Broadway’s Gloria: A Life (Daryl Roth Theatre), Informed Consent (Duke Theater on 42nd Street).In addition, DeLanna originated roles in over thirty World Premieres, including writing and performing in And So We Walked: An Artist’s Journey Along the Trail of Tears where she retraced her family’s footsteps along the Trail of Tears with her father.

Her film and television contributions extend more than 20 years, and, in fact, DeLanna starred in the Peabody Award winning Edge of America, Hallmark’s Dreamkeeper, Goliath, Shameless, General Hospital, Disney + Launchpad: The Roof, and Reservation Dogs to name just a few. She has served as a cultural liaison for theatre, film, and television, most recently the television series La Brea. Our guest has also been the chair of the SAG-AFTRA National Native Americans Committee since 2007 and she presently is the Artistic Director of Native Voices at the Autry, the only Equity Theatre in the country developing and producing plays written by Native American playwrights. 

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Sacred Stage: Talks with Native Playwrights and Artists with DeLanna Studi & Native Voices

American Indian Airwaves (AIA), an Indigenous public affairs radio porgram and, perhaps, the longest running Native American radio program within both Indigenous and the United States broadcast communication histories. Also, AIA broadcast weekly every Thursday from 7pm to 8pm (PCT) on KPFK FM 90.7 Los Angeles (http://www.kpfk.org).  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aiacr


American Indian Airwaves is produced in Burntswamp Studios and started broadcasting on March 1st, 1973 on KPFK in order to give Indigenous peoples and their respective First Nations a voice about the continuous struggles against Settler Colonialism and imperialism by the occupying and settler societies often referred to as the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Latin and South America countries located therein.

American Indian Airwaves operates as an all-volunteer collective with no corporate sponsorship and no underwriters.