Eagle Project's "America Unveiled"

The Eagle Project’s third event, a spoken-word and stand-up revue at the Three of Cups, seems in keeping with founder Ryan Victor Pierce’s mission to “explore American identity through performing arts and our Native American heritage.” At the same time, however, it highlights the vagueness of that very mission. Their two previous projects, Wood Bones and Broken Heart Land, were play readings, giving the evening to one narrative about American identity with special focus on Native perspectives. A revue gives forum to a multiplicity of voices.

Ethnically and topically, America Unveiled was highlighted by its diversity. Ethnically, it was mostly Indian and black. Topically, it was a fairly even split between spoken-word and stand-up. The spoken-word was uniformly serious, ranging from topics of growing up black in Brooklyn (Dominique Fishback) to being a Latina in America (Erica R. DeLaRosa). The comedy went for a lot of cheap racist and genital jokes. Notable exceptions of Brian Jian and emcee Margaret Champagne, who told funny true-to-life stories without needing to rely on shock-value for their laughs.

America Unveiled was a step away from what I’ve seen Pierce and his Project doing: developing Indian theater in New York. This revue shifted towards a look at the stories of American racial minorities. If that’s what Pierce is going for, then that’s great. But if he’s going to focus on Indian stories, he’s going to have to focus more on getting Indian artists. He also might want to reconsider having his events in bars or letting the emcee give the artists “Native American” animal symbols before they get up to perform.

Wood Bones

William S. Yellow Robe, Jr.’s Wood Bones, as heard in a staged reading by the Eagle Project on March 7^th, is intriguingly problematic. It’s about the spirit of a dying house who is bound to her burnt-out husk by the memory of a little girl who was molested inside. While a clearly fascinating concept and one with a lot of potential, Yellow Robe’s attempt to fuse Western dramaturgy and Native storytelling structure makes the play seem unfocused and unfinished. I would go one step further and submit that it is, in fact, unfocused and unfinished.

The central conflict is between the house, 121, and her awful memory of the little girl’s trauma. Yet Yellow Robe adds two other memories in dramatic action, and several “I remember” monologues on the part of 121. The monologues bear little discussion – either because of an underwhelming reading on the part of Madeline Sayet, or because “I remember” monologues are inherently undramatic, they took the wind right out of the play’s sails. The two enacted memories – one of a couple who moved in only to be evicted for being Indian, and another of the construction workers who caused a gas explosion – contribute nothing to the central conflict. As Yellow Robe said at the talk-back, “I could have written a play about each of these things – and I have.” Normally, I would immediately recommend cutting these extraneous episodes, but Yellow Robe’s intentions give me pause. He’s trying to fuse Western and Native dramaturgies, an endeavor I have a lot of professional sympathy with. However, Wood Bones makes me question the viability of such a project.

The Native dramaturgy appears in this play as the non-chronological structure and juxtaposition of thematically linked stories. It is superimposed on a Euro-American structured play, complete with its fourth wall and script. This two elements mix just like oil and water. Classic Native storytellers like Lame Billy of Weitspus and Skaay of Haida Gwaii who employed Native elements like those in Wood Bones with aplomb told their stories to an audience already familiar with them face to face and without a script. The audience’s intense association with the stories allowed the storytellers to combine them in unique ways without loosing the audience’s attention. The lack of a fourth wall or scripts also helped to keep the audience engaged. Bringing the fourth wall and scripts into Native dramaturgy lessens that engagement, and bringing the Native dramaturgy into a Western play muddles the storyline, which in turn lessens audience engagement.

Wood Bones is a play with a lot of potential, but will never be able to reach that potential until Yellow Robe really treats it for what it is: a structurally Western drama about healing from trauma. He has everything he needs to tell this story already: a great feel for Western dramaturgy, a compelling story about a young girl’s horror, and the seeds for great chemistry between 121 and Leroy. But as long as he superimposes elements foreign to this story on Wood Bones, it will never reach that potential.