Overview

Written and performed by Mary Kathryn Nagle
Directed by Margot Bordelon
April 1 – May 7, 2023 | World Premiere

Muscogee leader Jean Hill Chaudhuri traces her family’s history from the Trail of Tears to her grandfather’s allotment in central Oklahoma. In an astonishing one-woman play, she shares her story—the Native boarding school she fled on foot, her marriage to a young Bengali scholar, and the advocacy that became her life’s work. With On the Far End, a reference to the landmark 2020 Supreme Court opinion in McGirt v. Oklahoma that upheld the sovereignty of the Muscogee territories, one of America’s leading playwrights (Sovereignty; Manahatta) weaves a deeply personal account of one family—her own mother-in-law’s—and a legacy of broken promises between nations.

A Round House Theatre Equal Play Commission. Part of the National Capital New Play Festival.

PANEL DISCUSSION
The State of Indian Law: A Round House Discussion
Sunday, April 23 following the 2:00pm performance
Please click below to read more about the panel.

On the Far End is directly inspired by the 2020 Supreme Court opinion in McGirt v. Oklahoma, but it also traces centuries of broken promises. Join playwright and performer Mary Kathryn Nagle, Muscogee Nation Ambassador Jonodev Chaudhuri, and Muscogee Nation lead counsel Riyaz Kanji for a discussion of McGirt and its impact, as well as other recent and upcoming developments in Indian Law.

“Inspiring...A poised and appealing performer."

-The Washington Post

"Compelling from start to finish"

-DC Theater Arts

"Heart-rending and inspiring"

-DC Theater Arts

"Beautiful and noteworthy"

-Maryland Theatre Guide

On the Far End runs approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes with no intermission.

Masks are required at the following On the Far End performances: April 2, 7, 15, 22, 29, May 3. Learn more.

EVENTS & DISCUSSIONS:
View pre-show and post-show discussions here.

Native American & Indigenous Community Night: May 3 (**please note new date**)

Audio-Described Performance: April 15 at 2:00pm
Open-Captioned Performance: April 29 at 2:00pm
Learn more about accessibility at Round House here.

Learn more about our special discounts here and our Free Play program for students here.

Thank you to our sponsors:
On the Far End is sponsored by Leslie Grizzard and Joe Hale and is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
The 2022-2023 Season is sponsored by Linda Ravdin and Don Shapero.

Cast

Creative Team

Mary Kathryn Nagle

Jean

Mary Kathryn Nagle (Jean/Playwright) is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She is an attorney whose work focuses on the restoration of tribal sovereignty and the inherent right of Indian Nations to protect their women and children from domestic violence and sexual assault. From 2015 to 2019, she served as the Executive Director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program. Nagle is an alum of the 2013 Public Theater Emerging Writers Program. Productions include Miss Lead (Amerinda, 59E59); Fairly Traceable (Native Voices at the Autry); Sovereignty at Arena Stage; Manahatta at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Return to Niobrara at Rose Theater; Crossing Mnisose at Portland Center Stage; Sovereignty at Marin Theatre Company; and Manahatta at Yale Repertory Theatre. She has received commissions from Arena Stage, the Rose Theater (Omaha, Nebraska), Portland Center Stage, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Yale Repertory Theatre, Round House Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Kansas City Repertory Theatre. She also writes for TV and film, and her most recent credit is serving as an Associate Producer on PREY. She is most well known for her work on ending violence against Native women. Her play, Sliver of a Full Moon, has been performed in law schools from Stanford to Harvard, New York University, and Yale. She has worked extensively on Violence Against Women Act re-authorization, and she has filed numerous briefs in the United States Supreme Court as a part of the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center’s VAWA Sovereignty Initiative, including, most recently, United States v. Cooley, Oklahoma v. McGirt, and Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, and Brackeen v. Haaland. She represents numerous families of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, including Kaysera Stops Pretty Places’ family who have brought a public campaign demanding an investigation into her murder. More can be read here: JusticeForKaysera.org

Tsaitami Duchicela

Jean Understudy

Tsaitami Duchicela (Jean Understudy) is thrilled to be a part of the world premiere of On the Far End, their first production at Round House Theatre. DC credits include Trans-formada at the Kennedy Center; and Rigoberta,¿Donde Estás? at the GALA Hispanic Theatre. Maryland credits include Luchadora! at Adventure Theatre; and El Rostro de la Luna with Convergence Theatre. Film credits include Facing Change, Saving Springville, and Common Ground 2 with WILL Interactive. DC Drag credits include Days of Thunder and The Wrath of Pachamama at Half&Half; El General Mariposa at Cafecito; and Espooky Love Story and Toxic Love at WeTheKingz. Instagram: @Thunderboi.Tsai Youtube: @ThunderboiTsai. (They/Them)

MEDIA

Production Photos

Mary Kathryn Nagle (Jean) in ON THE FAR END at Round House Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman.

Production Photos

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Also On Stage

March 30 – May 7, 2023 Jennifer Who Is Leaving

June 7 – July 2, 2023 August Wilson's Radio Golf