The 2026 Native Joy Play Festival: A Celebration of Indigenous Creativity and Community. A two-day, community-centered celebration of contemporary Indigenous storytelling and performance, taking place at the Franklin Avenue East Cultural District in 2026, March 27 and 28 at 7pm. This public festival uplifts Native joy, humor, resilience, and creative brilliance by presenting new short plays by Indigenous playwrights and staging them with Indigenous and BIPOC actors. Produced by SAROS field/works and directed by Ernest Briggs, this festival will share performance, community conversations, workshops, and food, inviting intergenerational audiences into a creative space where Indigenous narratives are honored and celebrated. This activation builds on a successful pilot hosted at Macalester College and responds directly to the history and present of Franklin Avenue as a center of Native organizing, culture, and artistic leadership. Made possible by the Arts & Cultural Affairs Department, City of Minneapolis: 2025 FESTIVAL AND CULTURAL SPACES ACTIVATION PROGRAM AWARD. This program aims to bolster festivals and cultural spaces as they champion Minneapolis-based artists and foster community connections. RESERVE YOUR FREE TICKETS HERE!
Shinaana Secody (she/they) is an Ojibwe/Dine actor based in the Twin Cities, mainly growing up on the Northern reservations of St. Croix and Mille Lacs. Shinaana started taking theatre seriously in May of 2024 and has since performed in many productions. Shinaana is also working as a New Native Theatre Artistic Associate Intern through the Keep the Fire Alive Internship Program at Indigenous People’s Task Force! In their free time Shinaana enjoys longboarding, dancing, being with friends, and creating content (IG @secody23) as a young queer native navigating life through the city and as a self developing artist! She is thankful to everyone supporting her acting journey!
Nathaniel TwoBears (he/him) (Ho-Chunk) is thrilled to be a part of the 2026 Native Play Festival! He’s been previously seen at the Guthrie Theater in For The People, A Christmas Carol, and The Tempest. He’s also most recently worked with New Native Theater in Christmas in Ochapee and The Nut, The Hermit, The Crow and The Monk.
JaLisa McKee (she/hers) is a Twin Cities, MN-based actor, artist and advocate. Jalisa is passionate about working in her community and works at Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center as well as owns her own Native American artisan shop Native Roots Trading Post with her family. With a bachelor’s degree in Theatre, Jalisa has acted in various short films, voice over work, and various theatre productions. The most recent role was reprising her role as “Audrey'“ in New Native Theatre’s production A Christmas In Ochopee.
Roya Taylor (she/her, they/them) is a Twin Cities–based actor, storyteller, and broadcaster with deep roots in the local Native arts community. Their work spans stage performance, community storytelling, and Indigenous media, bringing a lifetime of lived experience into their creative practice. Taylor has collaborated with artists and organizations across Minneapolis, contributing to theater, radio, and community-based projects that center Indigenous voice, presence, and continuity.
Production Team
Producer/Physical Dramaturg:
Sam Aros-Mitchell is a Yaqui artist, choreographer, and scholar based in Minneapolis, and the founder and producer of SAROS field/works, an Indigenous-led platform for interdisciplinary performance. His work centers Indigenous artists and explores performance as ceremony—engaging the body as a living archive and performance as a space of relation, presence, and knowledge-making. Aros-Mitchell holds a PhD in Drama and Theatre and an MFA in Dance Theatre. He is a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow and McKnight Dance Fellow, and has worked with Rosy Simas Danse and the José Limón Dance Company.
Director, Casting, Native Community Liaison:
Ernest Briggs is a proud Anishinaabe director and actor who has worked for over 15+ years in film, stage and commercials. Ernest has directed or co-directed at Mixed Blood Theater, History Theatre, Nimbus Theatre, and Turtle Theater Collective. Ernest has also acted at the Guthrie Theater, Mixed Blood Theater, and Park Square Theater. Ernest received his M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Florida. In his spare time he spends time with his wife, 5 year old daughter and 3 year old son.
Stage Manager:
Thomas Draskovic (He/Him) (Educator/ Actor/Musician/Artist/Activist)Hunkphápha Lakhóta/Wahpé Khúte Dakhóta is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Nation. Thomas has been active in the Twin Cities acting community since the fall of 2018 when he made his stage debut as Big Chief Bromden in a Chameleon Theatre Circle production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. He has been active ever since with in-person productions for New Native Theatre including Higher Education, Christmas in Ochopee, and This is How We Got Here in addition to various online readings. Thomas has also been a part of public readings of History Theatre’s The Dakota Project in the role of Chief Little Crow, played the part of WWII Ojibwe code talker soldier, Donald in the History Theatre’s production of Christmas of Swing, along with a number of short films such as The Boom and MinneVampolis, public script readings with the Guthrie and Jungle Theatres respectively.
Tonights ASL services are provided through:
Cindi Martin and Angela Blackdeer from the Indigenous Interpreters Organization
