Indigenous Earth Voices

LEE CATALUNA

Playwright

Lee Cataluna was born and raised in Hawaii and is of Native Hawaiian descent. Recent projects for the stage include Ipu for Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Home of the Brave for La Jolla Playhouse, Flowers of Hawaii at Native Voices at the Autry and Mudpies and Magic at Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Her books include Folks You Meet at Longs and the children’s book Ordinary `Ohana. She has an MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts from University of California, Riverside.

DILLON CHITTO

Playwright

Dillon Chitto is a Native American of Mississippi Choctaw, Laguna and Isleta Pueblo descent. He grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he learned the importance of art, culture and traditions from his family. In his playwriting, he connects these themes using storytelling techniques learned throughout his life. He is presently in Chicago, Illinois and is currently a company member of BoHo Theatre where he is an artistic administrator. His first play, Bingo Hall, was given a world premiere by Native Voices at the Autry in March 2018 in Los Angeles. He was selected as Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program’s 2017 winning playwright. He has also worked with Global Voices theatre project in London as well as Theater Above the Law in Chicago. He was recently selected as a resident for AlterTheater’s 2020 AlterLab cohort.

MARY KATHRYN NAGLE

Playwright

Mary Kathryn Nagle is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She is also a partner at Pipestem Law, P.C., where she works to protect tribal sovereignty and the inherent right of Indian Nations to protect their women and children from domestic violence and sexual assault. From 2015 to 2019, she served as the first Executive Director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program. Nagle is an alum of the 2013 Public Theater Emerging Writers Program. Productions include Miss Lead (Amerinda, 59E59), Fairly Traceable (Native Voices at the Autry), Sovereignty (Arena Stage), Manahatta (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Return to Niobrara (Rose Theater), Crossing Mnisose (Portland Center Stage), Sovereignty (Marin Theatre Company) and Manahatta (Yale Repertory Theatre).

FRANK HENRY KAASH KATASSE

Playwright

Frank Henry Kaash Katasse (Tlingit), is from the Tsaagweidí clan. Frank is an actor, director, producer, improviser, educator, author and playwright. Frank received his Bachelor’s in Theatre Arts from the University of Hawai’i: Mānoa. Frank served as Board President of Juneau/Douglas Little Theatre (2013-2019), a Perseverance Theatre company member (2008-present) and the Playwright in Residence for Theater Alaska (2020-present). In 2017, Perseverance Theatre produced (along with Native Voices at the Autry and La Jolla Playhouse) the rolling world premiere of Katasse’s play They Don’t Talk Back. Frank has also developed two full length plays (Where the Summit Meets the Stars and Spirit of the Valley) as the Playwright in Residence (2018). Frank currently lives in Douglas, AK with his wife and two kids.

MADELINE SAYET

Playwright

Madeline Sayet is a citizen of the Mohegan Tribe, the Executive Director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP) and Co-Artistic Director of Red Eagle Soaring: Native Youth Theater. For her work as a theater maker, she has been honored as a Forbes 30 Under 30, TED Fellow, MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow, National Directing Fellow, Native American 40 Under 40 and a recipient of The White House Champion of Change Award from President Obama. Her play, Where We Belong, first shown in London at Shakespeare's Globe, will have its U.S. premiere in DC as part of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company's current season. www.madelinesayet.com.