Syracuse Stage Named 2025 Lucille Lortel Foundation Indigenous Theatermaker Award Recipient

The Dramatists Guild Foundation has named Syracuse Stage as the 2025 recipient of the Lucille Lortel Foundation Indigenous Theatermaker Award for their work to showcase the importance of Indigenous storytelling and help develop a space for Native performers and theater artists at all levels in their careers.

“Syracuse Stage is committed to going beyond Land Acknowledgements and has developed an ongoing relationship with the local and national Indigenous community,” Joann Yarrow, Director of Community Engagement at Syracuse Stage, said. “We give space for Indigenous education, storytelling, and artistry that strive towards an equitable future and are so grateful to be acknowledged with this award.” 

Administered by the Dramatists Guild Foundation, the award is presented to an Indigenous theater institution or organization for their work and commitment to the preservation and upliftment of Indigenous theatermakers located in New York or Connecticut. In addition to the recognition, the Award comes with $20,000 to further the work of the institution or organization, thanks to the generous support of the Lucille Lortel Foundation.  

Syracuse Stage has long championed and elevated stories from the Indigenous community. In 1994, the theatre premiered “The Indolent Boys” from Pulitzer Prize-winning Kiowa novelist N. Scott Momaday; in 2008, alongside celebrated theatre artist Ping Chong, Syracuse Stage created “Tales From the Salt City,” an interview-based examination of the history of Syracuse which included Jeanne Shenandoah, environmental leader of the Onondaga Nation; and in 2018, born of a desire to further learn from and engage with the Indigenous people of Central New York, Syracuse Stage launched “Our Words are Seeds,” a collaborative performance project under the creative guidance of lead artist Ty Defoe. “Our Words are Seeds” has evolved into a multi-year, multi-disciplinary experience encompassing a wide range of activities, including community-based educational programming, storytelling and, most recently, an evolving partnership among Indigenous artists. In the summer of 2025, Syracuse Stage and Netherlands-based choreographer Nicole Beutler collaborated with Oneida/Haudenosaunee thought leader Michelle Schenandoah on “A Room in Our House” — a dance piece that interrogates the relationship between Dutch colonists and the Indigenous peoples of North America — as a multi-year effort to further the theatre's commitment to telling the stories of the Indigenous community. Such projects not only enrich the local artistic landscape — they continue to inform and deepen the artistic vocabulary of Syracuse Stage as a people-first organization.
This award is part of DGF’s long-term commitment as allies, advocates, and investors in the inclusion and celebration of the voices of Indigenous dramatists of the First Nations. Past recipients include Iakowi:he’ne’ Oakes, for her work as the Founder and Director of the North American Indigenous Center of New York, and the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program.