By Vickie Ramirez (Tuscarora)
Directed by Randy Reinholz (Choctaw)
Brewster’s back! Rising from the ashes with a slick plan for a bottled water plant on reservation land. There’s mixed agreement and opposition from family and friends, including an old flame with a grudge—but is he the secret ingredient for success? This play was workshopped as Corn Soup.
Native Voices at the Autry is devoted to developing and producing new works for the stage by Native American, Alaska Native, and First Nations playwrights.
Pure Native is a production that depicts the struggles of real people. The design of this production has allowed for a blend of minimalism and complexity, which allows for the audience to take in the show at a slow but steady pace.
Theatrically, Los Angeles is blessed in many ways, and one of them is the presence of Native Voices at the Autry, the only Equity theatre company devoted exclusively to developing and producing new works from Native American, Alaska Native and First Nations playwrights. Their shows are often specific and insightful in a way no other theatre company can be — yet at the same time the themes in their work have a universal resonance. Such is the case with Pure Native, which is both an entertaining comedy/drama and a nuanced look at the debate between corporate America and traditional values.
Valerie Ramirez tells a compelling and relevant story which does not require a conclusive ending to be effective. It is quite enough to raise all the issues she has, without tipping her hand as to where her own sympathies lie. Several characters have lyrical monologues in which they look into the future, or convene with the spirits, that are real jewels of Native writing. Most of the expository dialogue, however, sounds stiff and earnest, though well acted. Her title suggests how hard, and maybe how harmful it can be, to presume to be “pure” anything. Ramirez has a gift for subtle and nuanced situations.
This is one of the best productions I have seen from Native Voices.
Pure Native is a production that depicts the struggles of real people. The design of this production has allowed for a blend of minimalism and complexity, which allows for the audience to take in the show at a slow but steady pace.
Theatrically, Los Angeles is blessed in many ways, and one of them is the presence of Native Voices at the Autry, the only Equity theatre company devoted exclusively to developing and producing new works from Native American, Alaska Native and First Nations playwrights. Their shows are often specific and insightful in a way no other theatre company can be — yet at the same time the themes in their work have a universal resonance. Such is the case with Pure Native, which is both an entertaining comedy/drama and a nuanced look at the debate between corporate America and traditional values.
Valerie Ramirez tells a compelling and relevant story which does not require a conclusive ending to be effective. It is quite enough to raise all the issues she has, without tipping her hand as to where her own sympathies lie. Several characters have lyrical monologues in which they look into the future, or convene with the spirits, that are real jewels of Native writing. Most of the expository dialogue, however, sounds stiff and earnest, though well acted. Her title suggests how hard, and maybe how harmful it can be, to presume to be “pure” anything. Ramirez has a gift for subtle and nuanced situations.
This is one of the best productions I have seen from Native Voices.
