Native Voices Presents 27th Festival of New Plays

ABOUT THE ACTORS

Tom Allard (Cherokee) is a longtime member of the Native Voices Artists Ensemble, having recently voiced the archvillain Wampum Baggs in The New Adventures of Super Indian as well as the original 2007 recordings. He is a retired actor, and for the past 20 years taught stagecraft and video filmmaking before becoming the resident storyteller for Pasadena Polytechnic School. September marks the beginning of his 50th year of singing for his supper, in one form or another. Deeply grateful for this adventure. What a band of players! Samantha Bowling (Cherokee) is a standup, sketch, improv, and character comedian from Cincinnati, Ohio. She lives, works, plays with her dog, paints, writes music, drives a stick shift, and performs in Los Angeles. She can be seen in comedy sketches on YouTube, in the Syfy film Tomb Invaders , on Amazon Prime in the feature film Back to Awesome , improvising on stage with the RubyLA’s house team Earhart, performing with Native Voices at the Autry, and in live comedy shows all over the city. Check out her Instagram @2ndGuessCorrect for updates on shows. Ernest Briggs (White Earth Nation) is a Minneapolis native who has performed in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Florida for more than 10 years. He received his MFA in acting from the University of Florida. His stage appearances include the Guthrie Theater, Park Square Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Teatro del Pueblo, Nimbus Theatre, Turtle Theater Collective, Artistry Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Minnesota History Theatre, and Native Voices at the Autry. Candice Byrd (Cherokee Nation/Quapaw Nation/Osage Nation) received her MFA in performing arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2015. Acting highlights include Sarah Ridge Polson in Sovereignty ; Lily in A Tlingit Christmas Carol ; Phoebe Francis/Laguna Woman in The New Adventures of Super Indian ; and Terri Henry/Deborah Parker/ Billie Jo Rich in Sliver of a Full Moon . In 2017, Byrd participated as a TYA/ASSITEJ’s Next Generation artist-in-residence. Wado/ Da-tlee/Gu-ne-gay to my family, and glad to be working with this group of talented artists!