Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Storm on the horizon

They Don't Talk Back at La Jolla Playhouse

Román Zaragoza and Duane Minard
Román Zaragoza and Duane Minard

Native Voices at the Autry — aka the Autry Museum of the American West — is the only equity company in America devoted to work by Native Americans. As part of this year’s Resident Theatre Program at the La Jolla Playhouse they are staging Frank Henry Kaash Katasse’s comedy-drama They Don’t Talk Back.

They Don't Talk Back

The title draws a line. The play takes place in a small Tlingit fishing village — pop. 200 — in 1994. Native traditions reign: respect for the land, one-on-one relations with nature (salmon, for example, are glad to be netted; they’re part of a larger cycle), and elders deserve respect. So never talk back to them. Nick grew up in Juneau on MTV and hip-hop culture. He’s got baggy pants, his underwear shows, and his black Raiders cap’s on backward. He’s also got tons of ’tude and is against just about everything in the Tlingit culture, especially his grandparents’ seemingly constant demands.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In part because they call him “apple”: red on the outside, white within. His absent father was a native; his mother, a junkie now in jail, is white. Nick’s an outsider at least twice-over. He admits that he’s “too white to be brown, too dark to be bright.”

Early scenes abound with differences. Nick’s adept at Sega Genesis, while cousin Edward (also parentless) still plays old-hat Nintendo and watches a dated WrestleMania battle between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. The grandparents, Paul Sr., and Linda, are fans of The Price is Right. Interspersed with songs, dances, and monologues about Tlinkit culture, the play follows Nick’s gradual acceptance of his new family and growing respect for their culture.

Rather than slow the pace, the interludes give the show life. Duane Minard (adamant and compassionate as Paul, Sr.) chants an elegy/note of hope in Tlingit that binds the piece together.

The playwright has a knack for presenting ethnicity and sociology without giving a lecture. These are character-driven, as when Paul, Sr., talks about syncretism without using the word: “Learn things from white people but from our own people, too.”

Román Zaragoza, Brían Pagaq Wescott, Jennifer Bobiwash

Some scenes and monologues need tightening, however, especially when the dialogue becomes stock, he said/she said exchanges without adding information or spark. And the hospital scene loses dramatic force by its length and tried-and-true emotional appeals. The finale’s a keeper that can evoke tears without having to jerk them.

Kholan Studi (son of actor Wes) does riveting work as Edward, be it a monologue about mythical eggs or in exchanges with Roman Zaragoza’s Nick (who moves skillfully from adamant denial to acceptance). As Linda and Nick’s PTSD father Tim, Jennifer Bobiwash and Brian Pagaq Wescott beam on and off, the latter at times stuffing too many choices into a moment.

The design work combines the humble with the sweeping and epic. Sara Ryung Clement’s set, a living room and downstage wooden wharf, and props locate the family above the poverty line but nowhere near mad-money items.

Tom Ontiveros’s projections (three panels on the rear wall) turn Alaska into a living character. At first they are stills of snowy peaks and foggy bays; then, like the play and Alaska itself, they become animated. River currents speed up, waves grow in size, and a storm on the horizon this way comes.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Román Zaragoza and Duane Minard
Román Zaragoza and Duane Minard

Native Voices at the Autry — aka the Autry Museum of the American West — is the only equity company in America devoted to work by Native Americans. As part of this year’s Resident Theatre Program at the La Jolla Playhouse they are staging Frank Henry Kaash Katasse’s comedy-drama They Don’t Talk Back.

They Don't Talk Back

The title draws a line. The play takes place in a small Tlingit fishing village — pop. 200 — in 1994. Native traditions reign: respect for the land, one-on-one relations with nature (salmon, for example, are glad to be netted; they’re part of a larger cycle), and elders deserve respect. So never talk back to them. Nick grew up in Juneau on MTV and hip-hop culture. He’s got baggy pants, his underwear shows, and his black Raiders cap’s on backward. He’s also got tons of ’tude and is against just about everything in the Tlingit culture, especially his grandparents’ seemingly constant demands.

Sponsored
Sponsored

In part because they call him “apple”: red on the outside, white within. His absent father was a native; his mother, a junkie now in jail, is white. Nick’s an outsider at least twice-over. He admits that he’s “too white to be brown, too dark to be bright.”

Early scenes abound with differences. Nick’s adept at Sega Genesis, while cousin Edward (also parentless) still plays old-hat Nintendo and watches a dated WrestleMania battle between Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. The grandparents, Paul Sr., and Linda, are fans of The Price is Right. Interspersed with songs, dances, and monologues about Tlinkit culture, the play follows Nick’s gradual acceptance of his new family and growing respect for their culture.

Rather than slow the pace, the interludes give the show life. Duane Minard (adamant and compassionate as Paul, Sr.) chants an elegy/note of hope in Tlingit that binds the piece together.

The playwright has a knack for presenting ethnicity and sociology without giving a lecture. These are character-driven, as when Paul, Sr., talks about syncretism without using the word: “Learn things from white people but from our own people, too.”

Román Zaragoza, Brían Pagaq Wescott, Jennifer Bobiwash

Some scenes and monologues need tightening, however, especially when the dialogue becomes stock, he said/she said exchanges without adding information or spark. And the hospital scene loses dramatic force by its length and tried-and-true emotional appeals. The finale’s a keeper that can evoke tears without having to jerk them.

Kholan Studi (son of actor Wes) does riveting work as Edward, be it a monologue about mythical eggs or in exchanges with Roman Zaragoza’s Nick (who moves skillfully from adamant denial to acceptance). As Linda and Nick’s PTSD father Tim, Jennifer Bobiwash and Brian Pagaq Wescott beam on and off, the latter at times stuffing too many choices into a moment.

The design work combines the humble with the sweeping and epic. Sara Ryung Clement’s set, a living room and downstage wooden wharf, and props locate the family above the poverty line but nowhere near mad-money items.

Tom Ontiveros’s projections (three panels on the rear wall) turn Alaska into a living character. At first they are stills of snowy peaks and foggy bays; then, like the play and Alaska itself, they become animated. River currents speed up, waves grow in size, and a storm on the horizon this way comes.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Next Article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.