Plays preserve culture

'Raven Odyssey' puts culture center stage

ALL-NATIVE PLAY: Stories from numerous Alaska tribes used to weave this tale.Perseverance Theatre has a history of incorporating Alaska Native culture into its productions. Since 2000 the Juneau-area company has developed a version of "Moby Dick" interwoven with Inupiat whaling stories, and a Tlingit "Macbeth," which will be staged in March at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Before "Raven Odyssey" begins, the actors perform a brief ritual to pay tribute to their ancestors. What follows is a graceful and atmospheric tale of magical realism, where Man is born from a pea pod and all of nature has a voice, even birch fungus.