''Indians'' is a 1968
play
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* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
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by
Arthur Kopit
Arthur Lee Kopit (' Koenig; May 10, 1937 – April 2, 2021) was an American playwright. He was a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for '' Indians'' and '' Wings''. He was also nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Play for ''Indians'' (1970) a ...
.
At its core is
Buffalo Bill Cody
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years in ...
and his ''Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show''. The play examines the contradictions of Cody's life and his work with
Native Americans.
Alvin Klein
Alvin Klein (c. 1938 in Brownsville, Brooklyn – February 28, 2009) was a theater critic for ''The New York Times'' for more than 15 years, publishing nearly 3,500 reviews and other articles.
Early life and education
Klein was raised in Fl ...
, writing in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', wrote that the play intended "...to open up the real savage story of how the West was won, to demythologize that old game of cowboys and Indians..."
[Klein, Alvin]
"Theater. 'Indians,' an Echo of Vietnam"
''The New York Times'', October 20, 1991
Productions
''Indians'' premiered in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in July 1968 in a production by the
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
at the
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Aldwych in the City of Westminster, central London. It was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200 on three levels.
History
Origins
The theatre was constructed in th ...
, directed by
Jack Gelber
Jack Gelber (April 12, 1932 – May 9, 2003) was an American playwright best known for his 1959 drama '' The Connection'', depicting the life of drug-addicted jazz musicians. The first great success of the Living Theatre, the play was transl ...
.
[Kopit, Arthur. "Introduction". ''Indians: A Play''. Samuel French, Inc., 1997 (reprint), , pp.4-6] The play had its US premiere at the Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...
, Washington, DC.,[ from May 1, 1969 to June 8, 1969, directed by ]Gene Frankel
Eugene V. Frankel (December 23, 1919 – April 20, 2005) was an American actor, theater director, and acting teacher especially notable in the founding of the off-Broadway scene. Frankel served in the Army during World War II in entertainment and ...
.[
The play opened on ]Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
The Lena Horne Theatre (previously the Mansfield Theatre and the Brooks Atkinson Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 256 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1926, it was designed by Herbert ...
on October 13, 1969.
Directed by Gene Frankel, the cast included Stacy Keach
Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He has played mainly dramatic roles throughout his career, often in law enforcement or as a private detective. His most prominent role was as Mickey Spillane's fictiona ...
as Buffalo Bill, Manu Tupou
Manu Tupou (January 5, 1935 – June 5, 2004) was an American-based Fijian actor, writer, director, and teacher.
Early life
Manu Tupou was born on Lomaloma, Lau, Fiji Islands.
Education
Tupou trained as an actor for 15 years in New York under Le ...
as Sitting Bull, Tom Aldredge
Thomas Ernest Aldredge (February 28, 1928 – July 22, 2011) was an American television, film and stage actor.
He won a Daytime Emmy Award for playing the role of Shakespeare in ''Henry Winkler Meets William Shakespeare'' (1978). His Broadway ...
, Kevin Conway, Charles Durning
Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.Schudel, Matt (December 26, 2012) "''In real life and on the screen, he played countless role ...
, Raul Julia
Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 – October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he took an interest in acting while still in school and pursued the career upon completion of his studies. After ...
, and Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and, film. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and has receive ...
. The play ran for 96 performances and 16 previews.[''Indians'']
Playbill, retrieved January 1, 2018
The play was presented at the McCarter Theater
McCarter Theatre Center is a not-for-profit, professional company on the campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The institution is currently led by Artistic Director Sarah Rasmussen and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg ...
, Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...
in October 1991, directed by George Faison
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
.[
]
Adaptation
In 1976, Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New H ...
wrote and directed a screen adaptation titled ''''. The cast included Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...
, Joel Grey
Joel Grey (born Joel David Katz; April 11, 1932) is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical '' Cabaret'' on Broadway as well as in the 1972 fi ...
, Kevin McCarthy
Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as House Majority Leader under spea ...
, Geraldine Chaplin
Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to act ...
, Denver Pyle
Denver Dell Pyle (May 11, 1920 – December 25, 1997) was an American film and television actor and director. He was well known for a number of TV roles from the 1960s through the 1980s, including his portrayal of Briscoe Darling Jr. in se ...
, and Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He first rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running association with ...
.
Analysis
Michael Patterson, professor of Theater at De Montfort University, Leicester), wrote in ''The Oxford Guide to Plays'' that "Kopit turned to a more serious political investigation of the white settlers' treatment of Native Americans... Kopit's play was one of the first major pieces to confront the issue and to relate it to continuing genocide in South-East Asia."
Otis L. Guernsey wrote in ''Curtain Times: The New York Theatre, 1965-1987'' that "the best script of the 1969-70 bests, in our opinion, was ''Indians'', about the opening of the American West... It is destined, certainly, for an illustrious career...where it will enhance the reputation of American playwriting...''Indians'' reached its...fulfillment not in the events on the stage...but out in the auditorium where we were forced to re-examine some of our value judgments through a crack in our beloved national epic of the Old Wild West."
John Lahr
John Henry Lahr (born July 12, 1941) is an American theater critic and writer. From 1992 to 2013, he was a staff writer and the senior drama critic at ''The New Yorker''. He has written more than twenty books related to theater. Lahr has been ca ...
of ''The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'' wrote: "''Indians'' deals with the most incendiary truth: myth being created to justify a lost dream."[Lahr, John]
"On-Stage. Review of 'Indians'"
''The Village Voice'' October 16, 1969
Broadway awards and nominations
Source:[
* 1970 ]Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
for Best Play (nominee)
* 1970 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (Keach, nominee)
* 1970 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design (nominee)
* 1970 Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...
for Outstanding Performance (Keach, winner)
* 1970 New York Drama Critics' Circle for Best American Play (nominee)
References
{{Reflist
External links
Internet Broadway Database listingInternet Movie Database listing''Indians''
Samuel French
Indians
Indians
Indians
American plays adapted into films
Plays about race and ethnicity
Plays based on actual events
Plays based on real people
Native Americans in popular culture
Works about Native Americans
Cultural depictions of Buffalo Bill
Cultural depictions of Annie Oakley
Cultural depictions of Grover Cleveland
Cultural depictions of Sitting Bull