Urban Indian is too common

'Urban Indian' explores beyond the reservationIn the opening scene of "Tales of an Urban Indian," Darrell Dennis' semi-autobiographical one-man play about his struggles with substance abuse and his identity as a Canadian Indian, Dennis explains his reason for writing it.

"It's a story I need to tell, not because it's extraordinary, but because it's common," he tells the audience. "Too common. And it's not told enough."How well does the play work?This back-and-forth between worlds, and more specifically, Dennis' observations about Indian culture and his own place in the world beyond the reservation, are mostly engrossing and highly original.

Unfortunately, the play descends too quickly into an all-too-common, cautionary tale of alcoholism and drug abuse.

It's not that the main character isn't easy to sympathize with or that his vices aren't relevant to the rest of the play. The problem is his tangle with addiction is predictably less interesting than everything that preceded it.Comment:  I'm not sure it would occur to me to write about something that's "too common." I tend to prefer things that are uncommon if not extraordinary.

On the other hand, I love TV shows such as All in the Family, thirtysomething, and My So-Called Life, which were built around common themes and situations. So I guess it's all in the execution.

The Exiles deals with urban Indians "living in two worlds" and struggling with alcoholism. That worked well because it focused on one night and contrasted the stories of three different characters.

Maybe The Exiles would seem "too common" if it were a play also. But it succeeds as a cinematic journey.

For more on the subject, see Native Plays and Other Stage Shows.