‘Best of what’s coming:’ Native youth take the stage in new play
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A small group of Native youth gather after school at Stages Theatre Company in Hopkins, located west of Minneapolis. They dance, sing and recite lines from a script for an upcoming play.
Next week, Stages Theatre Company, in partnership with Native American-led theater company, Mni Giizhik Theatre Ensemble will premiere a new children’s play, “Bowwow Powwow.” The production features an all-Native cast.
The story, adapted from Brenda Child's book of the same name, follows a young girl from Red Lake Nation named Windy Girl as she attends a powwow, all while her imagination runs wild with imagery of dogs dancing and singing.
Siobhan Hellendrung, 13, plays the role of Windy Girl. “Bowwow Powwow” is Siobhan's fifth production. She started acting four years ago.
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“This is something that I really enjoy doing. And once I knew that I was like, ‘okay, I'm gonna try out some more. I think this is really fun,’” she said.
With the play's cultural specificity and all-Native casting, Siobhan says it feels like one big family on set.
“I've definitely worked with Native kids in shows I've been in, but to be in an all-Native cast, all kids who are like me, I think that's really special,” Siobhan said.
The young actors, ages 7 to 18, were recruited from local area schools and surrounding community. “It's really fun to like make new friends and to be in a community with people,” Siobhan said.
Production director and co-founder of Mni Giizhik Theatre Ensemble Sara Pillatzki-Warzeha says representation matters on stage. She describes Native theater as an honest representation of Native communities -- it brings people together through authentic stories.
“This is a way for I think young people to grow in confidence and to feel like, ‘This is where I'm from. This is my land. This is who my people are, and I deserve to get to be on stage here and tell stories,’” Pillatski-Warzeha said.
She says storytelling is central to Native culture. By bringing youth on stage to explore their creativity, she hopes the young actors feel empowered to embrace their identities.
“I really think that the best of what's coming for Native theater lives in them. I think I have a lot to contribute, and Mni Giizhik certainly feels like we have a lot to contribute, but the best of what's coming resides in the next generations,” Pillatski-Warzeha said.
Siobhan hopes seeing an all-Native cast will encourage other Indigenous children to imagine themselves onstage, too.
“I just feel really proud to be that Indigenous representation for all the kids [who] to come see this, all the audience [who] to come see this,” Hellendrung said.
“Bowwow Powwow” will run from Sept. 16 to Sept. 27 at Stages Theatre Company in downtown Hopkins.
Stages Theatre Company plans to take “Bowwow Powwow” on the road in October with performances at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, the Minnesota History Center and Minneapolis American Indian Center.
Chandra Colvin covers Native American communities in Minnesota for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities.
