Playwright Rhiana Yazzie Premieres Latest Play at New Native Theatre

 

The scent of sage fills Gremlin Theatre. Actors stretch and dance, a guitar playing a soft and drifting melody. Rehearsals are underway for Diné playwright Rhiana Yazzie’s forthcoming The Nut, The Hermit, The Crow, and The Monk, debuting with New Native Theatre (NNT) from April 16 to May 4. 

Co-directed by Yazzie and Amber Ball, a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, this comedy follows a zillenial brother and sister on a self-help journey inspired by The Odyssey and Alice in Wonderland. Their adventure is a quest to confront and heal from the boarding school trauma passed through generations. 

Now in its 15th year of operation, New Native Theatre supports a community of Native actors, playwrights, and producers in the Twin Cities. The organization won a 2023 Bush Prize and has been growing amidst a challenging environment for arts organizations across the country. Founded by Yazzie, the playwright also serves as the artistic director for NNT.

Yazzie recently wrote and directed the play The Other Children of the Sun at The Kennedy Center and received a 2025 USA Artists Fellowship. 

The Nut, The Hermit, The Crow, and The Monk revels in whimsy, incorporating theatrical visuals such as shadow puppets, characters emerging from eggs and wearing cyclops masks, and a cardboard box ship with giant tortillas for sails.

“Things that I played with as a kid,” Yazzie laughs. “Because I’m so interested in telling this story about young adults, their world is still so much made up of the fantasy of being a kid. When you’re an artist, that fantasy of being a kid never fully goes away.” 

“There’s no satisfaction from having a finger waved at the audience,” Yazzie said. “I want to … leave a Native audience in a better place than when I found them.”

NNT embodies its values. For example, cast have access to a therapist to help process traumatic memories or feelings that might arise from the challenging subject matter. A  community elder is available at each production to guide and ground the cast and crew in Indigenous values. 

“A play represents human effort in that any collaborative effort produces something beautiful,” said Diné playwright and poet Lini Wilkins, a production elder. “Slowly each character blossomed like a flower, unfolding through good direction from Rhiana. She knows how to bring that character out.” 

A sense of strong community and positive energy is palpable among the cast and crew, giggles erupting during humorous scenes and morphing into quiet contemplation as more serious subject matter arises. In one scene, the brother and sister duo enter their personal wonderland after a stressful family intervention. Roughly paraphrased, a joke breaks the tension: I thought Navajo heaven would have a lot more sheep. 

It’s clear that the stories resonate with the cast, making this production deeply personal. 

“My favorite thing about this play is the authenticity of representation,” says Ojibwe actor Donovan “Niizhogaabo” Holmes, who plays the roles of Will, the Crow, and Man. “It’s a story about a Native family that we’re all familiar with in one way or another. It represents the full breadth of Native existence, from humor to grief and everything in between.”   

“This play is so true to Native life,” says LaReina LaPlante, an Ojibwe-Blackfoot actor who plays the role of Prima in the show. “It captures hardship and love. BIPOC love is often passed down in an unconventional way over generations. It might be different from contemporary love, but it’s what we know.”

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New Native Theatre will present The Nut, The Hermit, The Crow, and The Monk for 15 performances at Gremlin Theatre in Saint Paul, located at Annex Building, 550 Vandalia Street, #177, from April 16 through May 4, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $35. Audiences can buy tickets online at nhcm.bpt.me. For group sales, contact  boxoffice@newnativetheatre.org