Review: 'What's an Indian Woman to Do?' in LA

Friday, July 6, 2007  

"Social consciousness suffuses "What's an Indian Woman to Do?" at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Mark Anthony Rolo's solo play about the rift between heritage and modernity requires that a Native American actress play its multiple roles, which DeLanna Studi, a star of Cherokee origin, does with resolute skill.

Focusing on Belle, born to an Ojibwe father and a white mother, Rolo's cunningly crafted monologue begins with a Halloween memory. Adolescent Belle plans to trick-or-treat as Disney's Pocahontas, only to discover that blond, blue-eyed Katrina, her "best friend," has deliberately appropriated Belle's costume.

Studi is something to see and, at times, her dutiful attack yields versatile fruit. The exchanges between Belle and Auntie have a quiet pull, and slow-on-the-uptake Moose is probably the best thing in the show."

Get the Story:
Theater Beat: One woman's tribal tribulations [last item] (The Los Angeles Times 7/6)
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