A New Performance Work by Roger Q. Mason

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May 25 and June 1, 2025​

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West of the West Coast lies the isolated St. Nicolas Island where a young indigenous woman lived for almost two decades without human contact. And then she was "rescued" in 1853 by an American sailor with a bounty.

 

After living as an exotic at the Santa Barbara Mission for seven weeks, rich food, fleeting fame, and the excess of the West killed her. This is a dirge for her last two months alive. Juana Maria is a recipient of the 2024 Ojai Playwright Conference Fall Playwright Residency.