Media Contact: Laurie Mellas-Ramirez

Dec. 18, 2002 FARMINGTON AREA NATIVE REDIRECTS LIFE TO WORK IN THEATER Reiko Yazzie at the UNM Center for the Arts. She directed two shorts in the recent festival of new plays "Words Afire" presented by the UNM Dramatic Writing Program. After a brief turn at law school back east, Farmington area native Reiko Yazzie is back in New Mexico and redirecting her life - to directing. Yazzie, a graduate student in the University of Mexico Department of Theatre and Dance, recently directed a four-night stage run of Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth, a play by Drew Hayden Taylor, at the Theatre X in the UNM Center for the Arts. This semester she worked on six productions in various roles - acting, stage-managing and directing - in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Although Yazzie always adored film, she wasn't on track for a career in the arts. After earning a bachelor's degree from UNM in 1999 with a double major in communication and criminology, Yazzie attended law school for a semester. "I wasn't at good as law as a I wanted to be," she confesses. She returned to Albuquerque and applied for work in the communication field. After trying her hand at a few unsatisfying jobs she found herself browsing through UNM's catalog. "I went to the theater department and met with Professor David Jones. I said I have no background in theater - just throw me in anywhere. By the end of the week I was on an audition for a student-directed play. I got the part and I loved it. I was completely hooked," Yazzie recalls. Jones says Yazzi dived into the theater world tackling several aspects in the field. "Her work is lively, passionate, funny, and contemporary in spirit. I hope she's going to change the face of Native American theatre and the other dramatic arts," he says. Yazzie completed a graduate assistantship last year in house management and, in August, served as house manager for the SW Repertory Company's production of Indolent Boys in Santa Fe. "It was great to meet the people who make up the SW Repertory. The house manager keeps the stage area safeguarded, makes general announcements and ensures that the audience has fun," she says of the experience. Soon after Indolent Boys wrapped she met a Canadian actor who coached her on pronunciations for Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth. In November, as part of her graduate project, Yazzie, a Navajo, directed Only, written by a Native American author and featuring native characters. "Only is one of more than ten plays I read that were written by American and Canadian Indian authors," she noted in the playbill. "The issues of self-identity and family struck me the most." Yazzie dedicated the run to her father Ray Yazzie of Farmington. Her younger sister Shihomi acted in the play. Yazzie intended to direct Only for her master's essay project, but decided to work another year in the program and graduate with a master's in theater with an emphasis in directing from UNM next fall. After earning her degree she hopes to sign on with a local theater company to write and direct more Native American productions. "For a lot of Indian nations the arts are not a priority. I think it's very important to be able to introduce theater to Native American kids. It builds esteem in themselves and our culture," Yazzie said. Another personal goal is to one day direct a hair-raiser. "Stephen King is my hero. I would love to direct a scary play. It would be a challenge," she said. ###

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