Sovereignty by Mary Kathryn Nagle
This event is in the past
Every Thursday–Sunday, through May 28, 7:30 pm
Harlequin Productions
Historic District (Seattle)
This is an in-person event
$20 - $35
All Ages
The following description comes from the event organizer.
Sarah Ridge Polson, a young Cherokee lawyer, fights to restore her Nation’s tribal jurisdiction while confronting the ever-present ghosts of her grandfathers. Stretching from 1830s Cherokee Nation (now present-day Georgia) through Andrew Jackson’s Oval office, along the fateful Trail of Tears, to the Cherokee Nation in present-day Oklahoma – Sovereignty tells an epic tale of the powerful intersections of personal and political truths, bridging our country’s distant past and imminent future. Featuring direction, set, costume and lighting design by Native artists as well as five Native actors, Sovereignty is a continuation of Harlequin’s commitment to rethink and reframe, not only which stories are seen on its stage, but who is presenting those stories to audiences.Native rights lawyer and playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, has written a dense script full of historical context. Of particular focus is the signing of the Treaty of New Echota (which became the legal basis for the forcible removal of the Cherokee known as the Trail of Tears) by Major Ridge and his son John Ridge, and the reverberations of that decision for the Ridge family today. The play moves constantly between the 1830s and the present; double-casting actors in roles in both time periods further highlights how strongly the past continues to shape those in the present day.