Why Shakespeare deserves a Native American perspective

Here’s how our new production of The Winter’s Tale infuses indigenous ideologies into Shakespeare’s classic.

When you travel somewhere new, you want to experience the art native to that place. In England, that means Shakespeare. But what is indigenous to the United States? If someone visits New York City, would they know where to find, for example, Native American theater? As a Mohegan director based both in New York and the UK, this question is always on my mind. How do we welcome people to our home with our art?

Well, if you happen to be in New York City this December, you’ll find an all-Native American cast performing our version of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. The ensemble at American Indian Artists Inc (AMERINDA) is presenting the play as part of our new Native Shakespeare Initiative.

Poster for The Winter’s Tale. Image courtesy of AMERINDA.

You may well ask yourself: Why Shakespeare in New York? Why produced by a Native organization? In 2014, we launched the Native Shakespeare Initiative at AMERINDA to give Native actors the chance to further their careers in theater by performing iconic roles, to be freed from the shackles of stereotype, and to create a bridge for new audiences to try Native theater. Filling the stage with Native artists gives us an opportunity to build a world in which we are allowed to exist in every possible role, beyond the confines of a single tokenized Native character or redface. For Native peoples, even being allowed to exist is still considered a political act.

Shakespeare’s plays are known for their ability to transcend the politics of their time by weaving fundamental human truths into timeless, iconic narratives with universal characters. And as a Native community from many different indigenous nations, AMERINDA knows how to weave stories. So how do we work what is relevant to us today into Shakespeare’s messages?