Cleveland Public Theatre to Debut HAUNTED by Tara Moses
An Indigenous horror comedy with the coolest Y2K hits, Tara Moses' Haunted forces us to confront the very land we walk on.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Feb. 05, 2026
Cleveland Public Theatre will present Haunted by Tara Moses (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma) directed by Nailah Unole didanas'ea Harper-Malveaux (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma) leader of artistic curation and producing for Crowded Fire Theater, one of five theatres part of the Mellon Foundation-funded two-year-old Future of American Theatre Cohort which also includes CPT. This marks the first collaboration between the two theatres.
The production is part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, a highly competitive award that grants playwrights a “rolling premiere” at three different theaters with each providing individual casts, sets, costumes, etc. This NNPN rolling world premiere had stops at Company One in Boston (FoATC member), and Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles making CPT the final stop in the process. Tara Moses is the first Indigenous artist to receive the prestigious theatre award.
Cleveland Public Theatre has also been working with Lake Erie Native American Council to promote the play to the Indigenous community.
Although, the production will be accented with snippets of iconic Y2K pop, original music and sound are designed by Geoffrey Short, CPT's new Kulas Theatre Composer Fellow.
Ash and Aaron have been dead for twenty years, and the Indigenous siblings pass their time dancing to Britney Spears, haunting the families that try to move into their house, and wondering if they'll ever be free from the shackles of racist stereotypes. As the cycle begins once more, the siblings ask: will they ever make it to the Spirit World? An Indigenous horror comedy with the coolest Y2K hits, Tara Moses' Haunted forces us to confront the very land we walk on and our relationship (or lack thereof) with Native communities today.
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