What's an Indian Woman to Do? readings

THEATER | Native playwright Mark Anthony Rolo to be showcased in readings at the Minneapolis American Indian Center

By Dwight HobbesTwo major names in Native arts and culture to emerge in the 1990s were Marcie Rendon—who founded Raving Native Productions to produce Native American theater—and Mark Anthony Rolo, who made his bones editing The Circle. So the upcoming readings at the Minneapolis American Indian Center showcasing both their names make for a significant event.

Two evenings of readings introduce Rolo's collection What's an Indian Woman to Do? And Other Plays (UCLA American Indian Studies), for which Rendon wrote the foreword. She also penned the poem "What's an Indian Woman to Do When White Girls Act More Indian Than Indian Women Do," which he adapted to the stage as What's an Indian Woman to Do?And:"What's an Indian Woman to Do When White Girls Act More Indian Than Indian Women Do?" is a scathing send-up of slumming ladies who, in their passion for erotic exotica, practically paint a target on Native men, leaving Native women to stew in seething consternation. Asked how faithful to the spirit and sense of her poem Rolo's play is, she referred to the book's foreword, which reads, "Just what is an Indian to do when the history is so brutal one runs out of tears? Rolo's answer is to write biting humor where we, Native people, are forced to face our egos on stage and laugh until the tears run. This is what he does in What's an Indian Woman to Do? This play initially had a staged reading in Minneapolis prior to production by Raving Natives at Interact Theater in 2005. The reading was well attended by Native and non-Native folks alike. Native folks laughed uproariously at Belle as she tells the story of love lost to a white woman. During the feedback portion of the reading, non-Native audience members asked why Indians are 'still so angry.' The Indians responded, 'What? This is funny!'"Comment:  I've met Rolo before. He's the brother of Patrick Rolo the graphic artist.

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