Project lead: Prof. Jen Shook (Assistant Professor of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies)
Vivero Fellow (Fall 2025, 2026-2027): Isaiah Schlimm
Vivero Fellow (2024-2025): Regann Fishell
Link: https://insteadofredface.org/
The primary goal of the Instead of Redface project is to provide a collection of materials to support informed teaching and learning about Indigenous performance, especially 19th century – 21st century theatre, within the borders of what is now known as the United States. Later iterations may have a larger scope and add different formats. In ’24-25, the Vivero Fellow worked on building a WordPress site through Reclaim Hosting. In 2026-2027, we are considering how such a resource could relate to developments such as the Native Theatre Movement and a November 2026 gathering of scholars of Native theatre and Native theatre artists in Minneapolis.
Draft goals of the project long-term:
- Provide links to already-existing articles, videos, blogs, photos, audio, etc useful for college-level courses studying Native American plays and playwrights;
- Host such resources that need hosting with permission of creators;
- Connect with collections that contain performance history materials of productions;
- Connect to other conversations about supporting Native theatre and its study—for example, WikiEdu scholars’ projects, HowlRound digital commons, the Native American Women Playwrights’ Archive (NAWPA);
- Digitize and organize items such as the Native Playwrights’ Newsletter;
- Perhaps allow contributors to curate collections of materials (akin to the teaching space of the Colored Conventions Project and HowlRound Digital Commons);
- Encourage courses to create and contribute dramaturgical guides, production process materials, artist interviews, etc.
- Document related scholarly gatherings – I work with a collective of scholars who are hoping to host a symposium or series of meetings in upcoming years, either at NAPWA or elsewhere.
