Interview with Drew Hayden Taylor.

Summary: Drew Hayden Taylor (www.drewhaydentaylor.com) is an Ojibwa author, humorist and playwright from Curve Lake Reserve Ontario, Canada. In this interview, Taylor talks about his use of humor, the way he feels about using Native issues in his work, and they way his work is received in different communities. He also addresses writing from an Aboriginal perspective for a broader non-Native audience. By analyzing the use of Native humor in his pieces, he breaks down the universal language of his plays. Within the larger context of Aboriginal Theater, Drew looks at the development of his works as an offshoot of the work of people such as Thompson Highway and feels that he is able to go beyond the early works in this area that are primarily dark and depressing. Finally, Taylor rhapsodizes about the future of Native Theater and the translation of the classics such as Chekhov into Aboriginal settings.

Credits: Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, producer ; Andrew McLean (Inupik), videographer.

Credits: Drew Hayden Taylor (Ojibway), interviewee ; Raquel Chapa (Lipan Apache/Cherokee/Yaqui), interviewer.