Podcast

The play "Alternatives" explores the challenges faced by indigenous individuals in maintaining their culture in the Western world. The actors effectively grapple with these issues, using humor and insights to address assimilation, cultural questions, and the quest for a balance between tradition and society's influence. The play also examines how Native identity and values are mixed with Western values, represented by the characters of Angel, Bobbie, Yvonne, and Colleen. It touches on cultural appropriation and the complexity of Native identity, showcasing stereotypes, comedic situations, and contrasting characters. The relationship between Colleen and Angel evolves throughout the play, with tension arising when Colleen invites her friends and Angel's friends to dinner without his permission. The dinner ends in a fight, and Angel reveals the truth about a Native literature book that Colleen teaches, which involves the exploitation of Native experiences. The play highlights Colleen's hy My name is Mihaiko Rokabe, and question one, what does the play sing about Native identity? The play Alternatives talks about the challenges faced by indigenous individuals in maintaining their culture in the Western world. I believe that the actors did a really good job in grappling with the issues that they often faced. With a mix of humor and insights, they were able to explain the assimilation, cultural questions, and the ongoing quest for a balance between tradition and the influence of society. It's backed by the conversation that Bobbie and Yvonne had with the rest of Colleen's friends and herself. They started teaching them what Native identity was really about, and how society had decided their values for them. Additionally, the play talks about how Native identity and values are now mixed with the Western or the white values. In the play, Angel represented both worlds. Bobbie and Yvonne were more stereotypically Native, and the couple that Colleen invited was stereotypically white. Indeed, the husband and the couple had a typical white-siber complex when talking to the Natives, but she was also very ignorant about their culture. As a result, Angel was kind of torn apart between both worlds. He enjoyed being with his friends, Bobbie and Yvonne, yet part of him wanted to remain with his partner, Colleen. Also, an interesting detail is how Colleen seemed more interested in Angel embracing his roots, his Native culture, and identity than Angel himself. In other words, Colleen was more interested in Native culture than her Native partner, almost as if she wanted to be part of that minority. With this perspective, we can also say that the play talks about cultural appropriation with Native identity. It becomes especially clear when Angel asks Colleen to say words in Hebrew because she's Jewish, but she's unable to. However, when Angel asks her to say the same thing in a Native language, she does it easily. We can understand that she's obsessed with Native culture and even seems to want to become a Native person. All in all, the play illustrates the complexity of Native identity and culture with the use of stereotypes, comedic situations, and contrasting characters. My name is Sajed Misalem, and I'll be talking about how the relationship between Colleen and Angel evolved throughout the play. So, in the beginning of the play, we see Colleen and Angel cuddling each other and loving each other as a normal couple would. However, their relationship started to take a dive when Colleen decided to invite her friends, Michelle and her husband, Theo. She also invited Angel's friends, Bobbie and Yvonne, to dinner without asking for Angel's permission. From what we learned so far in the play, Angel seemed to be a laid-back type of guy that was alright with pretty much anything. However, when Colleen made that decision, Angel got frustrated with her, and it seemed like they had some bad blood between them, they being Yvonne, Bobbie, and Angel. Everyone arrived, and they started talking to each other. After some time, we started to see Angel being more open about his past, but he seemed extremely preoccupied by something else when everybody else was talking with each other. As it turns out, Bobbie and Yvonne were not very fond of the way Colleen and her friends perceived indigenous people. Bobbie, in particular, didn't like the fact that Michelle practically forced Dale to become a vegan like her. A fight started, and the dinner ended up being ruined. Colleen's friends left the house, and finally, Angel started to speak up about why he felt so uneasy and awkward during the whole dinner. Angel revealed the truth about one of the Native literature books Colleen teaches students. The problem with the book was that the book was already in its fourth generation, meaning it's been a really long time since it's been out. That book was about stories that Native people had experienced. Angel spoke out about it, saying that Bobbie and him were some of the kids that the researchers interviewed to create that book. Long story short, Yvonne and Bobbie left the house after arguing with Angel, saying that it was just a prank they played on the adults back then, and that there was no need to be so serious about it. After they left, Angel started to ask Colleen to say some words in his Native language, and some in hers, as previously stated by Mihaly. We start to understand that Colleen's point of view is slightly hypocritical when she herself isn't sticking to her roots. The last scene between the two of them is where Colleen leaves the house to get some fresh air, visibly heartbroken by the whole situation.