Gearing up for one HOT summer!

Still flying high off our success from Joy Harjo's Wings of Night Sky, Wings of Morning Light, Native Voices has devised a summer's worth of hot programs you won't want to miss!

First up is the international premiere of Diane Glancy's Salvage at the Origins Festival in London, England.

From the Origins' Press Release:
Origins is the UK’s festival of First Nations Creative Art. Groundbreaking artists from the indigenous cultures of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA are brought together in London by intercultural, multi-media company Border Crossings. The festival explores First Nations experience in the twenty-first century through theatre, film screenings, events and participation at venues across London.

Native Voices is proud is represent the USA in this inaugural festival celebrating the best of Native theatre. Executive Director Jean Bruce Scott landed in England a few days ago and she'll be joined shortly by Artistic Director Randy Reinholz, playwright Diane Glancy, director Sheila Tousey, the original cast from the LA production (Elena Finney, Robert Greygrass-Owens, and Noah Watts), and original Lighting Designer Craig Wolf who'll be filling in as Stage Manager.

The festival began yesterday with a Maori welcome ceremony and concludes on May 17th. Salvage opens next week on May 12th and runs until the conclusion of the festival. In addition, Randy and Diane will participate in several panels exploring Native identity as well as Native theatre.

If you happen to find yourself in the London area, be sure to stop by Riverside Studios for what's sure to be an awe-inspiring experience.

June sees the return of our Young Native Voices Theatre Education Project. Along with the Southern California Indian Center, NV will host acting and playwrighting workshops for Native American youth throughout the summer. Workshops will take place at the Autry National Center and SCIC with a culminating event taking place on Saturday, August 1st as part of SCIC's Annual Pow Wow at the Autry.

Scholarships are available; no prior experience is required. For more information, please email us. Applications are due on May 22nd.

While our YNV mentors keep things under control in LA, the rest of NV's staff will take up residence in San Diego for our sixth annual Playwrights Retreat and Festival of New Plays. This year's retreat will take place at San Diego State University from Sunday, June 14th - Sunday, June 21st with public readings to be held at the critically-acclaimed La Jolla Playhouse on Friday, June 19th and Saturday, June 20th. LA audiences need not fret as encore readings of all of the retreat plays will be held at the Autry on Friday, June 26th and Saturday, June 27th.

This year's retreat plays include: Carbon Black by Terry Gomez, The Frybread Queen by Carolyn Dunn, and Fancy Dancer by Dawn Dumont. The retreat will also feature a special performance of the radio adaption of The Red Road by Arigon Starr as well as a presentation of our newly commissioned TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) piece, Different Doesn't Mean the Same by Larissa FastHorse, Adryan Russ, and G.W. "Skip" Mercier.

Check back here for more information regarding the retreat or email me if your question just can't wait (who knows, you just may inspire our next blog post).

In July, NV takes The Red Road to Lincoln, Nebraska for its radio recording before a live studio audience. Directed by legendary Dirk Maggs, this project is a part of the Native Radio Theater Project, a collaboration between Native Voices and Native American Public Telecommunications. In August, NV continues its work in radio with the production of Raven’s Radio Hour, by Jack Dalton and Ed Bourgeois, in Anchorage, Alaska. Both plays will be streaming on-line at www.airos.org this fall.

And then there's NV's fall schedule of events! The 2009-2010 Season marks Native Voices' Tenth Anniversary at the Autry National Center and you can be sure we're not going to let that pass quietly! But you'll have to wait a bit longer to hear about what we've got planned (I have to leave you wanting a little bit more right?).

To ensure you're receiving the latest NV news, sign up to follow our blog (check out the options to your right), join our mailing list, become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, visit us on Myspace, or stop by our website. Whatever you chose, just make sure we see you at the theatre!