INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Repertory Theatre’s INclusion Series, new this year and focused on celebrating diverse storytelling, will begin with And So We Walked: An Artist’s Journey Along the Trail of Tears, a one-woman play created and performed by Cherokee artist and activist DeLanna Studi. On the IRT Upperstage October 15 – November 10, the production highlights the universal desire to honor one’s roots and the places that we call home, while sharing the modern impact of an often forgotten part of our shared American history.
And So We Walked weaves present-day and ancestral characters through time and place as it reflects on Studi’s experience traveling the 900-mile trail and the conflicts that the Cherokee Nation still wrestle with today. Cherokee on her father’s side and German-Irish on her mother’s, Studi hoped to not only explore the history of the Cherokee Nation, but also gain a deeper understanding of her father, his sense of pride in his language, and their shared ancestry and traditions. As she and her father retraced the steps their ancestors were forced to take in the 1830s, Studi conducted interviews and research, hosted workshops and storytelling circles through community partnerships, and participated in traditional ceremonies to help tell this complicated story.
The script was developed in close collaboration with individuals and institutions within 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. Major support was provided through the Arts and Society Initiative of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.
Tickets for the Midwest premiere of And So We Walked: An Artist’s Journey Along the Trail of Tears are available now, as are tickets for the other two productions in the INclusion series, The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 and The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin. Tickets start at $25. Call 317-635-5252 or visit irtlive.com to make reservations.
