American dramatist
Larissa FastHorse is a Native American (Sicangu Lakota) playwright and choreographer based in Santa Monica, California. FastHorse grew up in South Dakota,[1][2] where she began her career as a ballet dancer and choreographer but was forced into an early retirement after ten years of dancing[3] due to an injury.[4] Returning to an early interest in writing, she became involved in Native American drama, especially the Native American film community.[3][5] Later she began writing and directing her own plays, several of which are published through Samuel French (a Concord Theatricals Company) and Dramatic Publishing.[4][6] With playwright and performer Ty Defoe, FastHorse co-founded Indigenous Direction, a "consulting firm that helps organizations and individuals who want to create accurate work by, for and with Indigenous peoples."[7] Indigenous Direction's clients include the Guthrie Theater.[8] FastHorse is a past vice chair of the Theatre Communications Group, a service organization for professional non-profit American theatre.[9]
Career
In 2000, FastHorse was a delegate to the United Nations in Geneva, where she spoke on the impact cinema can have for Indigenous peoples.[5] FastHorse then shifted from a career as a dancer and choreographer, to feature television and film development.[5]
FastHorse worked for Universal Pictures before joining Latham Entertainment at Paramount as a creative executive. She produced two short films, The Migration and A Final Wish, before switching her focus to writing and directing.[5][10]
While writing and working on many projects of her own making, FastHorse also served as a panelist for The Film and Video Fellowships, formerly named the Rockefeller Fellowship.[5] She has been involved with many other networks and theatre companies, having written commissioned pieces for the AlterTheater in San Rafael, CA;[4][6] Cornerstone Theatre Company;[2] and Native Voices at the Autry[2][4] both located in Los Angeles, CA, as well as the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, MN;[4] the Kennedy Center for Young Audiences in Washington, D.C.;[4] and for Mountainside Theater in Cherokee, N.C.[2][4] She has developed new plays with the Arizona Theatre Company, Tucson, AZ;[4] the Center Theatre Group Writer's Workshop, Los Angeles, CA;[4] and Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor, Berkeley, CA.[4] Her play Urban Rez, created with Cornerstone Theater, portrays the experience of Indigenous people in Los Angeles County, home to the U.S.'s second-largest Indigenous population.[11] The Thanksgiving Play was begun with a fellowship from the Guthrie Theater and developed through readings including at DC's Center Stage Play Lab in 2016;[12][13] it was produced by Artists Repertory Theatre in Oregon in April 2018.[14] Both The Thanksgiving Play in 2017[15] and What Would Crazy Horse Do? in 2014 were featured on the annual "Kilroys' List" of "recommended un- and underproduced new plays by female and trans authors of color."[16][17] What Would Crazy Horse Do?, a comedy inspired by historical interest by the KKK in collaborations with Indigenous groups,[18][19] was featured in the Lilly Awards' 2015 reading series with performers Emily Bergl, Jesse Perez, and Madeline Sayet.[20] The Thanksgiving Play also secured FastHorse's off-Broadway playwright debut, with an October 2018 production announced by Playwrights Horizons, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel and starring Margo Seibert, Jennifer Bareilles, Jeffrey Bean, and Greg Keller.[21]
FastHorse currently serves as Vice Chairman of Playwrights Horizons.[22]
As part of her production contract as a playwright, FastHorse requires that the theatre hire at least one other Indigenous artist for the production, and showcase at least one other Indigenous artist's work in the building.[14]
FastHorse has been collaborating with Macy's since 2020 to help make the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade more respectful for the Native American community.[23]
Personal
FastHorse is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Lakota people.[4] She lives with husband, sculptor Edd Hogan, in Santa Monica.[5]
