Larissa FastHorse explained

Larissa FastHorse is a Native American (Sicangu Lakota) playwright and choreographer based in Santa Monica, California. In 2023, she became the first known female Native American playwright produced on Broadway with The Thanksgiving Play at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater.[1] [2] That same year, she joined Arizona State University as a professor of practice in the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and the Department of English with long-time collaborators, Michael John Garcés and Ty Defoe.[3] In 2024, Peter Pan: The Broadway Musical with an adapted book by FastHorse began an international tour.[4]

FastHorse grew up in South Dakota,[5] [6] where she began her career as a ballet dancer and choreographer but was forced into retirement after ten years of dancing[7] due to an injury.[8] Returning to an early interest in writing, she became involved in Native American drama, especially the Native American film community.[9] Later she began writing and directing her own plays, several of which are published through Samuel French (a Concord Theatricals Company) and Dramatic Publishing.[10] With playwright and performer Ty Defoe, FastHorse co-founded Indigenous Direction, a "consulting firm that helps organizations and individuals who want to create accurate work by, for, and with Indigenous peoples."[11] Indigenous Direction's clients include Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade[12] [13] and the Guthrie Theater.[14] FastHorse is a past vice chair of the Theatre Communications Group, a service organization for professional non-profit American theatre,[15] and current vice chair of the Board of Directors for Playwrights Horizons.

Career

In 2000, FastHorse was a delegate to the United Nations in Geneva, where she spoke on the impact cinema can have for Indigenous peoples.[16] FastHorse then shifted from her career as a dancer and choreographer, to feature television and film development and theater.

FastHorse has created a trilogy of "community engaged" plays with Michael John Garcés and Cornerstone Theater Company. The first was Urban Rez, which portrayed the experience of Indigenous people in Los Angeles County, home to the U.S.'s second-largest Indigenous population.[17] [18] The second project, Native Nation, was the largest Indigenous theater production in the history of American theater with over 400 Native artists involved in the productions in association with ASU Gammage.[19] Wicoun was the third play in the series and, according to FastHorse, explored the strength, beauty, humor, and perseverance culture, language and identity of the Northern Plains Indigenous people.[20] [21] FastHorse’s "radical inclusion process" with Indigenous tribes has been honored with prestigious national arts funding from MacArthur, Creative Capital, MAP Fund, NEFA, First People’s Fund, the NEA Our Town Grant, Mellon Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and others.[22]

In the 2022-23 season, FastHorse made her Broadway debut with her satirical comedy The Thanksgiving Play. The play began through a fellowship from the Guthrie Theater and was developed through numerous readings including at DC's Center Stage Play Lab in 2016.[23] It was produced by Artists Repertory Theatre in Oregon in April 2018 and had its off-Broadway debut in October 2018 at Playwrights Horizons. The Playwrights Horizons production was directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel and starred Margo Seibert, Jennifer Bareilles, Jeffrey Bean, and Greg Keller.[24] The Thanksgiving Play has been one of the top ten most produced plays in America since 2019; FastHorse is the first Native American playwright in the history of American theater on that list.[25] FastHorse was also one of the top twenty most produced playwrights of the 2023-24 season.[26]

Both The Thanksgiving Play in 2017 and FastHorse’s play What Would Crazy Horse Do? in 2014 were featured on the annual "Kilroys' List" of "recommended un- and underproduced new plays by female and trans authors of color."[27] [28] What Would Crazy Horse Do?,[29] a comedy inspired by historical events in which the KKK attempted to recruit Indigenous groups,[30] was featured in the Lilly Awards' 2015 reading series with performers Emily Bergl, Jesse Perez, and Madeline Sayet.[31]

Some of FastHorse's other recent projects include developing a new production for The Guthrie, For The People, and a new production of the beloved Jerome Robbins Broadway musical, Peter Pan.

At The Guthrie, For The People (2023) was created through a hybrid community engagement/traditional new play process with an open rehearsal room to allow for community feedback and was still a full production on the subscription season.[32]

Through FastHorse’s revised book, the new production of Peter Pan readdresses the play's depiction of Native Americans as it embarks on an international tour in 2024.[33] Some of FastHorse's produced plays in the past have included What Would Crazy Horse Do? (KCRep),[34] Landless[35] and Cow Pie Bingo[36] (AlterTheater), Average Family (Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis),[37] Teaching Disco Square Dancing to Our Elders: a Class Presentation (Native Voices at the Autry Museum of the American West),[38] Vanishing Point (Eagle Project),[39] and Cherokee Family Reunion (Mountainside Theater).[40]

FastHorse has written commissioned pieces for the The Public, Second Stage, Center Theater Group, AlterTheater, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Native Voices at the Autry, Children's Theatre Company, the Kennedy Center for Young Audiences, and Mountainside Theater. Additional theaters that have developed plays with FastHorse include Yale Rep, The Guthrie, Geffen Playhouse, History Theater, Baltimore’s Center Stage, Arizona Theatre Company, Mixed Blood, Perseverance Theater Company, The Lark Playwrights Week, and Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor.

In 2019, FastHorse entered film and television with a series at Freeform, a movie for Disney Channel, and a series for NBC. Since then she has been in development for projects with Apple TV+, Taylor Made Productions, Echo Lake, Dreamworks, and Netflix. Before working in theater, FastHorse began her writer training as a Sundance Native Feature Fellow, Fox Diversity Fellow, ABC Native American Fellow, and an intern at Universal Pictures. FastHorse has produced two short films: The Migration (2008) and A Final Wish (2002).[41] She also served as a creative executive for Latham Entertainment at Paramount.

In 2020, FastHorse’s company with Ty Defoe, Indigenous Direction, produced the first land acknowledgement on national television for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC.[42] Indigenous Direction's other clients include Roundabout Theater Company, American Association of Arts Presenters (APAP), Western Arts Alliance, Guthrie, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Brown University, and more.

As a playwright, FastHorse requests that theaters who produce her work hire at least one other Indigenous artist for the production, and showcase at least one other Indigenous artist's work in the building.[43]

Honors and awards

Television and Film credits

Theatre credits

Choreography and Direction

Writing

Personal

FastHorse is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Lakota people.[8] She lives with husband, sculptor Edd Hogan, in Santa Monica.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Green . Jesse . Review: In 'The Thanksgiving Play,' Who Gets to Tell the Story? . 22 April 2024 . The New York Times . 20 April 2023.
  2. News: Thacker . Stacy . Larissa Fasthorse Becomes First Native American Woman Playwright on Broadway . 28 May 2024 . Native News Online . 3 May 2023.
  3. News: LaRue-Sandler . Kristen . 7 new faculty join ASU's Department of English . 22 April 2024 . ASU News . 5 September 2023.
  4. News: Kennedy . Mark . Off to Never Never Land: 'Peter Pan' flies again in a new tour after some much needed changes . 22 April 2024 . Associated Press . 20 February 2024.
  5. Web site: Playwright 'Larissa FastHorse' on 'The Thanksgiving Play' and the Macy's parade. .
  6. Web site: Larissa FastHorse Receives Fellowship From the Guthrie. 2015-09-16. American Theatre. 2016-05-08.
  7. News: Writing is a dance. Heffley. Lynne. 2008-02-05. Los Angeles Times. en-US. 0458-3035. 2016-05-09.
  8. Web site: Larissa FastHorse. Dramatic Publishing. 2016-05-09.
  9. Web site: Plays for Young Audiences. MindLabs.net. Anne Shuff @. playsforyoungaudiences.org. 2016-05-09.
  10. Web site: Alter Theater. Alter Theater. 2016-05-09.
  11. Web site: 2017 Fall Forum on Governance: Turning the Tide. Group. TCG: Theatre Communications. www.tcg.org. en-US. 2018-09-04.
  12. News: Mosley . Tonya . Native American playwright Larissa FastHorse takes on the 'wild mess' of Thanksgiving . 22 April 2024 . Fresh Air . NPR . 21 November 2023.
  13. News: Tran . Diep . How Playwright Larissa FastHorse Helped Improve the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade . 28 May 2024 . Playbill . 22 November 2023.
  14. News: TCG Fall Forum: A Collegial Conversation About Systemic Challenges. 2017-12-01. AMERICAN THEATRE. 2018-09-04. en-US.
  15. Web site: TCG: Theatre Communications Group > About Us > Mission, Vision, and Values. www.tcg.org. 2019-12-13.
  16. Web site: Larissa FastHorse . Plays for New Audiences . 28 May 2024.
  17. Web site: Urban Rez . The Hunger Cycle Plays . Cornerstone Theatre . 22 April 2024.
  18. News: Arcos . Betto . 'Urban Rez' Explores What It Means To Be Native American . 28 May 2024 . NPR . 30 April 2016.
  19. Web site: Native Nation . Cornerstone Theatre Company . 22 April 2024.
  20. Web site: Wicoun . Cornerstone Theatre Company . 22 April 2024.
  21. News: Superheroes On Native Land . 22 April 2024 . American Theatre . Theatre Communications Group . 2023.
  22. Web site: Larissa FastHorse and the Power of Indigenous Storytelling . On the Stage . 30 January 2024 . 23 April 2024.
  23. News: Mitchell . Patricia . An Interview with Playwright Larissa FastHorse . 28 May 2024 . DC Theater Arts . 10 October 2016.
  24. News: Clement . Olivia . Larissa FastHorse's The Thanksgiving Play Finds Its Cast Off-Broadway . 28 May 2024 . Playbill . 12 September 2018.
  25. News: Tran . Diep . The Top 10* Most-Produced Plays of the 2019-20 Season . 28 May 2024 . American Theatre . Theatre Communications Group.
  26. News: Weinert-Kendt . Rob . The Top 20 Most-Produced Playwrights of the 2023-24 Season . 28 May 2024 . American Theatre . Theatre Communications Group . 18 Oct 2023.
  27. Web site: THE LIST 2017: The Top 9% . The Kilroys . 12 May 2017 . 28 May 2024.
  28. Web site: THE LIST 2014: The Top 5.6% . The Kilroys . 3 November 2016 . 28 May 2024.
  29. Book: Uno . Roberta . Contemporary Plays by Women of Color: An Anthology . 14 Sep 2017 . Taylor and Francis . 9781317280446 . 28 May 2024.
  30. News: Edwards . Melodie . Native Americans, The KKK And Keeping The 'Blood Pure' . 28 May 2024 . NPR . 7 May 2017.
  31. News: Peterson . Tyler . Kate Mulgrew, America Ferrerra & More Set for Lilly Awards Foundation's Play Reading Series . 28 May 2024 . BroadwayWorld . 4 Mar 2015.
  32. News: Chávez . David John . Larissa FastHorse and Ty Defoe Make a Show 'For the People' . 28 May 2024 . American Theatre . Theatre Communications Group . 2 Oct 2023.
  33. News: Kennedy . Mark . Off to Never Never Land: 'Peter Pan' flies again in a new tour after some much needed changes . 28 May 2024 . Associated Press News . 20 Feb 2024.
  34. News: Butler . Robert W. . 'What Would Crazy Horse Do?' offers nuanced portrait of reservation life . 28 May 2024 . Kansas City Star . 6 May 2017.
  35. News: Hurwitt . Robert . Theater review: 'Landless' tells tales with a social bent . 28 May 2024 . SFGate.com . 11 Jan 2015.
  36. News: Hurwitt . Sam . Playwright pays loving tribute to rural America in 'Cow Pie Bingo' . 28 May 2024 . Marin Independent Journal . 10 Jan 2018.
  37. News: Combs . Marianne . CTC stages 'Average Family' . 28 May 2024 . MPR News . 28 Sep 2007.
  38. News: Past Productions . 28 May 2024 . Autry Museum of the American West.
  39. Web site: Productions . Eagle Project . 28 May 2024.
  40. News: Bowling . Caitlin . New outdoor drama debuts at Cherokee's Mountainside Theater . 28 May 2024 . Smoky Mountain News . 11 Jul 2012.
  41. Web site: Larissa FastHorse. IMDb. 2018-09-16.
  42. News: Asmelash . Leah . Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade just featured a native land acknowledgment . 28 May 2024 . CNN . 26 Nov 2020.
  43. News: Sayet . Madeline . Native Women Rising . 28 May 2024 . American Theatre . Theatre Communications Group . 20 March 2018.
  44. Web site: Larissa FastHorse - MacArthur Foundation. 2020-10-10. www.macfound.org. en.
  45. News: LARISSA FASTHORSE AT THE 2019 PEN AMERICA LITERARY AWARDS CEREMONY . 29 May 2024 . PEN America . 26 Feb 2019.
  46. News: Announcing the Winners of PEN Center USA's 2016 Literary Awards . 30 May 2024 . Literary Hub . 25 Aug 2016.
  47. Web site: PEN Literary Awards Past Winners . PEN America . 19 December 2018 . 30 May 2024.
  48. Web site: Core Writer Program . Playwrights' Center . 30 May 2024.
  49. News: Mitchell . Patricia . See Your Stories Made into Theater: Center Stage's "Wright Now Play Later" Project Starts TODAY . 28 May 2024 . DC Theater Arts . 10 October 2016.
  50. Web site: Directors Lab West 2015 . Directors Lab West . 31 May 2024.
  51. Web site: AATE Award Winners . American Alliance for Theatre and Education . 31 May 2024.
  52. Web site: 2011/12 L.A .Writers' Workshop . Center Theatre Group . 31 May 2024.
  53. News: 2011 Festival of Books Guide . 31 May 2024 . South Dakota Humanities Council . 7-11 Oct 2011.
  54. News: GIA News . National Endowment for the Arts Announces $100,000 in NEA Distinguished New Play Development Project Grants . 31 May 2024 . Grantmakers in the Arts . 2 Sep 2010.
  55. Web site: Playwriting Residencies . William Inge Center for the Arts.
  56. Web site: Explorer . National Geographic . 31 May 2024.
  57. Web site: RECIPIENTS Harris Grants & Fellowships . CTFA - Children's Theatre Foundation of America . 31 May 2024.
  58. Web site: Larissa Fasthorse . Creative Capital . 31 May 2024.
  59. Web site: The Thanksgiving Play . 2nd Stage . 11 July 2024.
  60. Web site: Wicoun . Cornerstone Theater . 11 July 2024.
  61. Web site: Native Nation . Cornerstone Theater Company . 11 July 2024.
  62. Web site: Cow Pie Bingo . Marin Arts . 11 July 2024.
  63. News: OriginKC: New Works Festival at KCRep Boasts TWO World Premieres . 11 July 2024 . KC Live Arts . 4 May 2017.
  64. Web site: The Hunger Cycle Plays . Cornerstone Theater . 11 July 2024.
  65. News: Wren . Celia . 'My America Too' Is Theatre for the New Civil Rights Movement . 10 July 2024 . American Theatre . 22 December 2015.
  66. News: Regional Reviews: San Francisco . 11 July 2024 . Talkin' Broadway.
  67. Web site: Cherokee Family Reunion . Dramatic Publishing . 11 July 2024.
  68. News: Ogilvie . Jessica P. . Plays in Progress: HUNKA by Larissa FastHorse @ The Autry, 2/12/12 . 11 July 2024 . LAist . 1 May 2012.
  69. Web site: Teaching Disco Square Dancing to Our Elders: A Class Presentation . Dramatic Publishing . 11 July 2024.
  70. Web site: Production History . Children's Theatre Company . 11 July 2024.

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