AND SO WE WALKED Makes North Carolina Debut
at Triad Stage in the Hanesbrands Theatre in Winston-Salem
Greensboro, NC, March 27, 2017 – Triad Stage will stage the North Carolina debut of a new one-woman play that traces the path of a young Cherokee woman’s great-great grandparents who were forced to relocate from their homelands in the 1830s along the Trail of Tears. Created and performed by DeLanna Studi (Cherokee Nation) and produced and directed by Corey Madden, AND SO WE WALKED: An Artist’s Journey Along the Trail of Tears, previews from April 19-21, opens on April 22, and runs through April 30 at the Hanesbrands Theatre, 209 Spruce Street North in Winston-Salem, NC. For tickets or performance information, visit TriadStage.org or call the Triad Stage Box Office at (336) 272-0160.
Produced in collaboration with the Arts and Society Initiative of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, the project was developed in close collaboration with individuals and institutions within the Eastern Band of Cherokee and Cherokee Nation, with supplemental support from Native Voices Theatre, American Indian Center, Process Series at UNC-Chapel Hill and other influential organizations.
ABOUT THE PLAY
Delanna Studi, Cherokee artist and winner of the 2016 Butcher Scholar Award from The Autry Museum of the American West, has written a frank, heartwarming and inspiring story about a contemporary Cherokee woman and her father who embark on an incredible 900-mile journey along the Trail of Tears to truly understand her own identity and the conflicts of her nation. In the 1830s 17,000 Cherokee were forced to relocate from their homelands. AND SO WE WALKED is a powerful, multi-faceted dramatic memoir that draws on extraordinary interviews, historical research, and the artist’s personal experience to convey the complexities and conflicts with which the Cherokee wrestle. Studi deftly plays multiple characters in the show.
The set design is based on an abstract interpretation of the Cherokee Council House where ceremonies and tribal meetings are held. The council house is seven-sided to represent the seven clans of the Cherokee: Bird, Paint, Deer, Wolf, Blue, Long Hair, and Wild Potato. Inspired by Cherokee craft art, elements of the set display intricately lit fabric that is woven between trees against an abstract backdrop that is reminiscent of the mountains that are considered sacred space in the Cherokee nation.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM
DeLanna Studi most recently starred in ASTORIA: PART ONE at Portland Center Stage and Indiana Repertory Theatre’s FINDING HOME: INDIANA AT 200. DeLanna’s Off-Broadway Debut in INFORMED CONSENT, at the Duke Theater on 42nd Street, was a New York Times Critics’ Pick, which described her performance as “moving gravity.” She was a company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for two seasons, where she was one of only 10 Native people (onstage and off) to have done so! She performed in the First National Broadway Tour of the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. She has won awards for her performances in Hallmark/ABC’s DREAMKEEPER and Chris Eyre’s EDGE OF AMERICA. DeLanna also tours in the Encompass Compassion Play KICK, a one-person show, written by Peter Howard, which explores the power of images, stereotypes, and Native American mascots. She recently starred in the short film BLESSED and can be seen in ABC’s GENERAL HOSPITAL, Showtime’s SHAMELESS and SyFy’s ZNATION. She is the current chair of the SAG-AFTRA National Native American Committee. Her next project, in addition to AND SO WE WALKED, will be Portland Center Stage’s ASTORIA: PART TWO. This spring, she will begin writing the memoir counterpart to AND SO WE WALKED.
Over a 30-year professional career, Corey Madden has been the creator, director and/or producer of more than 300 site-specific, interdisciplinary and new works that have premiered across the country and in Europe. Recent original works premiered by her company L’Atelier Arts include TALES OF THE OLD WEST, presented at The Autry, SOL PATH and RAIN AFTER ASH, commissioned by Pasadena’s AxS Festival and Day for Night presented during Santa Monica’s 2011 GLOW Festival and restaged for the 2012 Transatlantyk Film and Music Festival. Madden is currently Executive Director of The Kenan Institute for the Arts at the UNC School of the Arts and has been Associate Artistic Director of the Center Theatre/Mark Taper Forum, Producing Director of Performing for Los Angeles Youth, Director of Artist Programs for the Pasadena Arts Council, and on the Artistic Staff for the Actors Theatre of Louisville and its Humana Festival of New American Plays.
SHOW CREDITS
Created and Performed by DeLanna Studi (Cherokee Nation)
Produced and Directed by Corey Madden
Set Design: John Coyne
Lighting Design: Norman Coates
Sound and Music: Bruno Louchouarn with John-John Grant and Sarah Elizabeth Burkey(Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)
Costume Design: Andja Budincich
Vocal Coach: Mary Irwin Furey
Dramaturg: Shirley Fishman
Cultural Consultant: Randi Byrd (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)
The script of AND SO WE WALKED was developed in close collaboration with individuals and institutions within the Eastern Band of Cherokee and Cherokee Nation, as well as with the support of Native Voices Theatre and the American Indian Center and Process Series at UNC-Chapel Hill. Support was provided through the Arts and Society Initiative of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.
PERFORMANCE AND SPECIAL EVENT INFORMATION
All performances are at the Hanesbrands Theatre, located at 209 N Spruce St, Winston-Salem, NC 27101.
Show times for AND SO WE WALKED are 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 8:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings. Sunday matinees are at 2:00 p.m. There are no matinee performances during previews.
Opening Night is Saturday, April 22 at 8:00 p.m. The Pay-What-You-Can performances are Wednesday, April 19 and Wednesday, April 26. Technically Talking, a behind-the-scenes discussion with members of the design team is Thursday, April 20, immediately following the 7:30 p.m. preview performance.
The InSight Series with a noted expert who will be discussing the world of the play will be held on Sunday, April 23, immediately following the 2:00 p.m. matinee performance.
PostScript, an open discussion with the cast, will be held on Thursday, April 27, immediately following the 7:30 p.m. performance.
ABOUT TRIAD STAGE
Triad Stage is a professional not-for-profit regional theater company based in Greensboro’s downtown historic district. All Triad Stage productions are created in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina using the best of local and national talent. Triad Stage gratefully acknowledges the support of its Season Sponsors: Blue Zoom, the North Carolina Arts Council, ArtsGreensboro and The Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.
Triad Stage recently announced its 17th Season of producing professional live theater in the Triad. For more information about the upcoming season, please visit www.triadstage.org/preview.
All Triad Stage productions feature the bold acting and breathtaking design that have been nationally recognized by The Wall Street Journal and by the American Theatre Wing, founder of the Tony Awards®, which named Triad Stage one of the top ten most promising theatres in the country as a recipient of the 2010 National Theatre Company Grant. Triad Stage has also earned accolades including “Best North Carolina Production of 2010” for The Glass Menagerie by Triangle Arts & Entertainment magazine; “One of the Best Regional Theatres in America”, New York’s Drama League; “Best Live Theater” (thirteen years running), Go Triad/News & Record and The Rhinoceros Times; and “Professional Theater of the Year” (2003, 2011), North Carolina Theatre Conference.
Contacts: Tiffany Albright for Triad Stage, Tiffany@TriadStage.org, 336-274-0067 ext. 203
Siobhan Olson for AND SO WE WALKED, Siobhan@FeistyPR.com, 336-769-6365
