Once in a while, you come across a play that has a message so important that you wish to see it succeed higher in future productions as its current iteration needs a bit more work. That is the case for Laura Shamas’ Four Women in Red, which had its world premiere at the The Victory Theatre Center.

But despite the play’s flaws, it achieved its goal in addressing the often ignored crisis of the disproportionate rate of missing and murdered Indigenous women in the U.S. Because of that, the coverage of this most serious matter is most appreciated and that in itself is the biggest achievement of all.

Someone knows. Somewhere. The Victory Theatre Center presents the world premiere of Four Women in Red, a provocative new play, written by Laura Shamas (Chickasaw Nation) and directed by Jeanette Harrison (Onondaga), about the current crisis of Missing Murdered Indigenous Women in the U.S. Four resilient Native American women search for missing friends and relatives in the face of apathetic sheriffs and dwindling clues. Are their loved ones lost? Were they taken? Are they even alive? This moving new play celebrates the power of community as the women seek answers against all odds. Their roller coaster journey involves mystery, grief, prayer and moments of sudden joy.

Watching this play, there were many moments of genuine surprise learning about how dire the situation is when it comes to how many Indigenous women in the United States end up missing or murdered. While I was vaguely aware of this issue, I never realized it was this severe. And since most theatre companies usually have most of their audience base be composed of white folks (and for sure, many of them being non-Indigenous), this will be the first time that they will hear about this crisis and that in itself is the biggest accomplishment of what this play has achieved.

The impact was certainly felt with many of the audience members I watched and for that, I am grateful that this play exists and can be seen. It must also be noted to see how wonderful it is for this work to be written and directed by Indigenous talent, and very much appreciated to see Black Indigenous folks represented through Zoey Reyes who portrays Sadie.

There is no doubt in my mind however that in its current form, this play needs a lot of work and fine-tuning. Many emotional connecting moments were missed as a lot of the lines being delivered felt like the actors were still trying to remember them. If it’s not that, the lines would be done in such a flat manner and by doing so, the play loses much of its gravitas. This issue was prevalent amongst all the actors but that being said, there were incredible moments of true impact felt from Jehnean Washington as Marie.

There are multiple awkward writing transitions that breaks the pacing and flow far too often and there are some rather peculiar directing choices that lost its impact as it often came off rather puzzling. And for the character of 21 year old Jo (portrayed by Harriette Feliz), it was rather odd for her to turn into an adolescent with the Indigenous superhero fantasy creation that came off more juvenile than meaningful.

Despite all of these flaws that need addressing, there is a diamond in the rough with this piece and I truly believe that a few more workshops can help massage out the issues mentioned above.

FOUR WOMEN IN RED
• Written by Laura Shamas (Chickasaw Nation)
• Directed by Jeanette Harrison  (Onondaga)
• Starring Carolyn Dunn (Tunica-Choctaw/Biloxi, Mvskoke), Harriette Feliz (Chumash), Zoey Reyes (Dinéh and Chicana), Jehnean Washington (Yuchi, Seminole and Shoshone)
• Produced by Maria Gobetti and Evan Bartoletti
• Presented by The Victory Theatre Center

WHEN:
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. / Sundays at 4 p.m.
• Performances: Feb. 14 (International Day of Action for #MMIW) through March 23

WHERE:
The Victory Theatre Centre
3326 W Victory Blvd
Burbank, CA 91505

TICKET PRICE:
$20–$41

HOW:
thevictorytheatrecenter.org
(818) 841-5421