THEATER

Native Voices

Theater company

Native Voices, a theater initiative to develop and present plays by and about Native Americans, had a modest launch in 2000 at the Autry National Center.

This year it came of age with its largest professional production: “Kino and Teresa,” playwright James Lujan’s reworking of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” set in 17th century Santa Fe.

The “overwhelmingly positive” response, says Native Voices co-founder Randy Reinholz, above with his wife, executive director Jean Bruce Scott, “took it out of the realm of ‘Isn’t it nice that those native people are doing theater?’ to ‘Wow, it’s good theater.’ ”

Plans to keep the momentum going include two Equity productions in 2006: “The Red Road” by Arigon Starr, and Diane Glancy’s “Stone Heart: Everyone Loves a Journey West,” with runs at the Autry followed by national tours -- a first for Native Voices.

The company has also embarked on a collaboration with American Indian Radio on satellite to develop “Native American Radio Theatre” programming.