Full circle: New Oklahoma Indigenous Theatre Company is producing the 10th Native American New Play Festival

EDMOND — In a rehearsal room inside the University of Central Oklahoma’s Mitchell Hall, the stars of “Neechie-Itas,” the featured play of the 10th annual Native American New Play Festival, were working last week on their Canadian accents and comedic timing.

“I play Linda, and she’s kind of the goofball, which is something different. Usually I’m cast as the wise mother, the grandmother or the spirit or something. And this year, I get to be kooky … so I’m working on my timing and trying to get a lot of laughs,” said cast member and Festival Coordinator Maya Torralba, who is Kiowa, Comanche and Wichita. “Like every other woman, we’re finding our roots, our stories. We’re able to tell our own stories. It’s about four very strong women. … As Native women, there are tragic parts, but there are strong, happy, funny parts to our lives — and so that’s why we need to see is Native America women as a full person.

“Can you hear? I’m getting the accent,” she added, laughingly repeating the word “so” with different inflections.

Penned by Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Anishinaabe playwright Jo MacDonald, “Neechie-Itas” is the centerpiece of the first Native American New Play Festival organized by the Oklahoma Indigenous Theatre Company. The fledgling nonprofit was formed last fall when the festival separated from its longtime sponsor, Oklahoma City Theatre Company.

Through a partnership with UCO, the 10th festival will be Thursday-Saturday and June 27-29 at Mitchell Hall Theatre.

Forging partnerships

Kato Buss, chairman of UCO’s Department of Theatre Arts, said he reached out to Torralba, with whom he previously worked on a film, after reading that the festival was looking for a new, larger home than its previous location in the Civic Center’s CitySpace Theatre.

“I didn’t want to have a hand in the artistic content or had to have any kind of authority in that. I just wanted them to trust me and to provide a space and a place and the support so they could do their thing,” Buss said. “I’m here to help and support and do whatever I can for people to tell their stories from their perspective.”

Like the festival, he said he believes in the importance of creating new theatrical works. Several UCO students are working on the cast and crew of the premiere production of “Neechie-Itas," which centers on four indigenous Canadian women who had a falling out about 10 years ago coming back together.

"All the truth comes out in a bit of a volatile way because they’re in jail,” director Tiffany Tuggle, who is Cherokee and Choctaw, said with a laugh. “But they’re able to ... find out the truth, and in the end, rekindle that relationship.”

McDonald said the heartwarming comedy’s title is derived from an endearing term for "friends" in her Native language.

“I made sure that these characters were women that I knew and I grew up with and have gotten to know through my employment and through university and things I do in the community: just these awesome, crazy, your friends, your aunties. ... It’s just kind of nice to see these women represented in a really powerful way and positive way,” said McDonald, who is attending the first weekend of the festival.

“And these women that I met last year are crazy awesome people. So, it’s doubly exciting then because I get to hang out with them again.”

Along with showcasing a fully produced play, the Native American New Play Festival annually includes staged readings of other new stories by Native playwrights. One of the staged reading titles will be selected as the featured play for next year’s festival.

Making a difference

In addition to starring in “Neechie-Itas,” Carolyn Dunn’s new play, “Three Sisters,” will be given a staged reading, along with “Bound” by Tara Moses (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma).

“I’ve mostly been writing. It’s been 25 years since I acted onstage. I got some wild hair,” Dunn (who is Cherokee/ Choctaw/Creek/Tunica-Biloxi) said. “I just really felt like it was a great role, because you don’t see a lot of roles out there for girls my age. I felt like it was four older women who were lifelong friends, and I just thought, ‘I’m gonna try this again and see what happens.’"

Tuggle said she is eager for theatergoers to see a comedy about modern-day Native women produced by an indigenous film company.

“These women on the reservation still watch ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ and they have cellphones. … And the relationships are all relatable,” Tuggle said.

“It feels like it’s full circle the fact that it’s the 10th annual festival, but the first year as our own company. So, it’s finally come around to where … we’ve grown enough to where we can run it as our own company. … It just feels really awesome, like we’re really making a difference.”

10th annual Native American New Play Festival

“Neechie-Itas”: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and June 27-29 at UCO’s Mitchell Hall Theatre, 100 N University Drive, Edmond.

Staged readings: Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Room 211, Mitchell Hall.

Tickets and information: okindigenoustheatre.com.