At VLT: A new play by a Native playwright examines cultures and relationships among Indigenous women in the contemporary world

Edited by Randi Bjornstad

The title of the play is long — The Woman Who Was a Red Deer Dressed for the Deer Dance — and it’s best to introduce it in the voices of the people who have created and produced it for performance at The Very Little Theatre on Nov. 18 and 19.

Here’s their description:

This is the story of a grandmother and her grand-daughter who live in “different worlds” — the grandmother holds on to her cultural practices during a time of reservation termination; the grand-daughter must navigate a contemporary world.

In this play, we witness their struggles as Indigenous women to honor tradition and culture in the contemporary world. Each must reach across a generational divide to (re)connect to one another and the meaning of heritage in the present day.

The play, written  by Diane Glancy of the Cherokee Nation, is presented at The Very Little Theatre by illioo Native Theatre, in partnership with VLT’s Minority Voices Theatre project. It’s a short play — just 30 minutes — but there are additional activities and discussions before and after the the performance to help the audience fully appreciate the development, meaning, and importance of the production.

Before the 2 p.m. showtimes, people involved with the production will talk about the origins of this particular play as well as introducing the audience to the Native storytelling traditions.

Following the performance, Marta Lu Clifford will lead a discussion of the meaning, style, and importance of this play. There also will be a presentation of excerpts from BlueJay’s Canoe, a play in progress by the illioo Native Theatre, which has been awarded a 2023-24 Creative Heights grant from the Oregon Community Foundation.

illioo Native Theatre — illioo means “joyful” in the Kalapuya language — was formed to celebrate Indigenous performance traditions and contemporary Native dramatists. It was founded by Clifford (Chinook/Cree/Grand Ronde), Theresa May, and Lori Tapahonso (Diné/Acoma Pueblo), illioo Native.

The Woman Who Was a Red Deer Dressed for the Deer Dance

When: 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 18 and 19, 2023; appropriate for ages 9 years and older

Where: The Very Little Theatre in the small Stage Left performance space, 2350 Hilyard St., Eugene

Tickets: Pay-What-You-Will, on a sliding scale from $0-$25, available online at TheVLT.com

Information: 541-344-7751