In order to help prepare youth to submit for the 2nd Annual Yale Young Native Actor’s Award (The Misty Upham Award), The Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program is offering a special free Monologue Acting Workshop with acclaimed actor Kimberly Guerrero (Colville, Salish) on Sunday February 6 from 5-7 PM EST/2-4 PST online. This workshop will be held on zoom and is open to all Native Youth, not just Yale students. During this workshop actors 25 and under will have the opportunity to learn some tips on how to prepare their monologues from an incredibly accomplished professional.
Kimberly is a contemporary Native American storyteller (actor, screenwriter, director) who enjoys a career in film, television and theater. Some of Kimberly’s recent film credits include Julie Taymor’s inspirational Gloria Steinem biopic, The Glorias, where Kimberly plays legendary Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller opposite Julianne Moore, the gritty revenge thriller and winner of the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award, Catch the Fair One, and the powerful upcoming feature, Montana Story. Having made a mark early on in her career playing Jerry’s Native American girlfriend on Seinfeld, Kimberly has gotten back to her comedy roots appearing in three ground-breaking new shows, Rutherford Falls, Reservation Dogs, and an exciting new Netflix animated series, Spirit Rangers. On stage, she originated the role of “Johnna” in Tracy Letts’ Tony Award-winning play August: Osage County and also starred in Mary Kathryn Nagle’s Manahatta (The Public Theater, NY) and Carolyn Dunn’s The Frybread Queen (Native Voices, LA). For over two decades, Kimberly has also worked extensively with Native peoples across North America using filmmaking as a tool to empower youth and promote wellness in tribal communities. Kimberly is the current Artistic Director at UC Riverside where she serves as an Associate Professor in the Theater, Film and Digital Filmmaking Department
Please email madeline.sayet@yale.edu to register for the online workshop or if you have any questions.
The Misty Upham Award for Young Native Actors will be accepting submissions through Feb 15th, if you are interested in submitting for this year’s award - please email madeline.sayet@yale.edu for access to the folder of submission materials, which includes monologues from plays by William S. Yellowrobe Jr. Marisa Carr, Carolyn Dunn, Rhianna Yazzie, Tara Moses, Mary Kathryn Nagle, Vera Starbard, Vickie Ramirez, Drew Woodson, and Nick Martin. For more details about this contest please check out our announcement here: https://yipap.yale.edu/news/2nd-annual-misty-upham-award-young-native-actors-call-submissions