Ady

by Rhiana Yazzie

A collision of colonialism, DNA, Navajo culture, sexuality, dancing, writing, the island of Guadeloupe, France, and the art of Man Ray, Picasso, and other early 20th century artists inspire this play about a real life surrealist muse. ADY a multi character play, is performed by two women:

A young Navajo woman, Adrienne, finds a 1937 photograph of a Black Caribbean dancer, Ady, that is her mirror image. This...

A collision of colonialism, DNA, Navajo culture, sexuality, dancing, writing, the island of Guadeloupe, France, and the art of Man Ray, Picasso, and other early 20th century artists inspire this play about a real life surrealist muse. ADY a multi character play, is performed by two women:

A young Navajo woman, Adrienne, finds a 1937 photograph of a Black Caribbean dancer, Ady, that is her mirror image. This opens the door to a moment before WWII when the surrealist movement was blooming in France. Characters like Pablo Picasso and his lover, Dora Marr, surrealist photographers Man Ray and Lee Miller guide Adrienne through her mother’s suicide back home on the reservation. As it tells the story of a surrealist muse, the play shows how easy it is to be lost to history, especially if you were a little brown woman.

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Ady

Recommended by

  • Anne Mason: Ady by Rhiana Yazzie
    “

    “Who is your muse when you are amusing to someone else?”
    Yazzie weaves together an enchanting collage of historical fiction, interpretive dreamscape, crushing grief, surrealist art, and notions of femininity - all in a fluid way that highlights how the female body is captured for artistic expression. If “the past is never resolved when it’s constantly defining our future,” then let us presently give humanity to the bodies that have been touched and rearranged like clay. We can start by asking, “Who was she? What was her name?” and truly listen to her story.

    “Who is your muse when you are amusing to someone else?”
    Yazzie weaves together an enchanting collage of historical fiction, interpretive dreamscape, crushing grief, surrealist art, and notions of femininity - all in a fluid way that highlights how the female body is captured for artistic expression. If “the past is never resolved when it’s constantly defining our future,” then let us presently give humanity to the bodies that have been touched and rearranged like clay. We can start by asking, “Who was she? What was her name?” and truly listen to her story.

    ”
  • Joanna Nonato: Ady by Rhiana Yazzie
    “

    Ady, by Rhiana Yazzie, tells the story of Adrienne, a woman who has recently lost her mother, as she tries to find who she is and who she wants to be. In her mother’s belongings, she finds an old postcard of a woman who looks just like her which sends her through a surreal trance where she explores different identities and the difficulty of finding herself as a Navajo woman.
    Yazzie expertly contrasts the classical idea of modesty with the sense of belonging and comfort with oneself.

    Ady, by Rhiana Yazzie, tells the story of Adrienne, a woman who has recently lost her mother, as she tries to find who she is and who she wants to be. In her mother’s belongings, she finds an old postcard of a woman who looks just like her which sends her through a surreal trance where she explores different identities and the difficulty of finding herself as a Navajo woman.
    Yazzie expertly contrasts the classical idea of modesty with the sense of belonging and comfort with oneself.

    ”

Development History

  • Reading, Public Theater,
  • Workshop, Playwrights' Center,
  • Commission, Pangea World Theater,

Awards

  • Expressive Arts Award
    National Museum of the Native American
    Winner
  • Play Submitted for Jerome Fellowship
    Playwrights' Center
    Winner