Perseverance Theatre to Stage World Premiere of OUR VOICES WILL BE HEARD

Perseverance Theatre presents the world premiere of OUR VOICES WILL BE HEARD, a powerful testimony of a mother's fierce love for her young daughter and the lengths she will go to protect her -- even at great personal cost.

Drawing upon the strengths of Alaska Native culture, Tlingit/Dena'ina playwright Vera Starbard creates a compelling case for ending the destructive cycle of child sexual abuse by recognizing the power of one's own voice. Using the lens of fiction and the palette of Alaska Native storytelling, Starbard draws from her own life a mother-daughter journey that reveals how generations face issues of family violence -- and how their decisions impact the people they love. Resiliency and hope become strong overarching themes as OUR VOICES WILL BE HEARD's all-Native cast weaves together legend and truth to deliver a profound call for prevention, healing and forgiveness.

The production runs from Jan. 15 - Feb. 7, 2016, on the Perseverance Theatre Mainstage located at 914 Third Street in Douglas, Alaska. Tickets are available now at Hearthside Books, the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council and online at PTalaska.org, or by calling 907-463-TIXS (8497). There are three pay-as-you-can previews: Sunday, Jan. 10, 4 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 13, 7:30 p.m. and Thursday Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m. There are two pay-as-you-can performances: Sunday, Jan. 17, 4 p.m. and Thursday, Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m.

After closing in Juneau, OUR VOICES WILL BE HEARD will also be performed in Hoonah and Anchorage in February.

Motivated by the truths in this story, and the courage of the playwright to tell it, the production has inspired an unusually significant and diverse collaboration of partners.

Playwright Vera Starbard has a long history of writing both personally and professionally. She began editing newspapers in 2000 and has made writing and editing part of her work since, including during recent years in the field of public relations. Starbard completed a historical fiction book in 2010 with an award from the Rasmuson Foundation. She has received numerous other awards for writing and editing from the Public Relations Society of America, Alaska Professional Communicator's Society, Alaska Women's Press Club and the Alaska Federation of Natives. She is the editor of First Alaskans Magazine, and OUR VOICES WILL BE HEARD is Starbard's debut play.

Director Larissa FastHorse has produced such plays as Average Family, Teaching Disco Squaredancing to Our Elders: a Class Presentation and Cherokee Family Reunion. As a playwright, she has written commissions for Cornerstone Theatre Company, Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis, AlterTheater, Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audeinces, Native Voices at the Autry and Mountainside Theatre. FastHorse has developed plays with Arizona Theater Company, the CenterTheatre Group Writer's Workshop and Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor. She was awarded the NEA Distinguished New Play Development Grant, American Alliance for Theatre and Education Distinguished Play Award, Inge Residency, Sundance/Ford Foundation Fellowship, Aurand Harris Fellowship, and numerous Ford and NEA grants. She is a current member of the Playwright's Union and Theatre Communications Group's board of directors, and is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Lakota Nation.

The all-Native cast is comprised of a diverse group of talented theatre, film and television actors from Alaska and the Lower 48. Alaskan actors include Tlingit actors Erin Tripp, DeAndre Howard King, Leetta Gray and Frank Katasse of Juneau, Yup'ik storyteller and actor Jack Dalton from Anchorage. Ojibway/Turtle Clan Oneida actor Dylan Carusona visits from New York City, along with Cherokee actor Robert Vestal and Iroquois actress Erika Stone from Los Angeles. Aleut actress Jane Lind returns to Perseverance Theatre from Montana.

The creative team includes Tlinket artists: Rico Worl, Northwest Coast Visual Artist; and Ed Littlefield, composer and sound designer. Alaskan artists include Akiko Nishijima Rotch as scenic designer; Art Rotch as lighting designer; and Rick Silaj, associate costume designer. Out of town costume designer Meg Zeder joins the team from New York City.

Founded in 1979, Perseverance has grown to produce a season of classical, contemporary and new plays, including over 70 world-premiere productions, for audiences in Juneau and Anchorage, reaching 24,000 attendees annually, employing over 400 artists from across Alaska, and engaging 200 volunteers. Perseverance Theatre believes theatre going creates community by fostering empathy, relationships and communication skills, thereby creating more vital and cohesive communities. Perseverance Theatre's mission is to create professional theatre by and for Alaskans. For more information on Perseverance Theatre visit www.ptalaska.org, or follow Perseverance Theatre on facebook/PerseveranceTheatre.

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