Editor’s note: This article includes mentions of sexual violence that may be disturbing to some readers.

To highlight the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis, the Victory Theatre Center’s upcoming play, “Four Women in Red,” follows the story of four first women.

Running from Feb. 14 to March 23, the play tells the story of first women – Indigenous women who have stewardship over their land – as they search for answers about their missing loved ones. Written and produced entirely by UCLA alumni, the production has three scheduled shows a week: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m., with tickets starting at $20. Alumnus, writer and Chickasaw Nation member Laura Shamas won the Los Angeles New Play Project’s Playwright Award in 2023. “Four Women in Red” features a predominantly Native American cast and production team.

“You don’t always see Indigenous storytelling through Indigenous voices,” said fellow alumnus and associate producer Lisa Lokelani Lechuga. “It is important to raise Native voices in storytelling because most Native stories in the past in the entertainment business have been told by white authors who don’t understand what it means to be in the shoes of a person who’s experienced this kind of situation.”

Regarding the four characters waiting for updates on their loved ones in the sheriff’s office as the show’s opening scene, fellow alumnus and Victory Theatre Center producing artistic director Maria Gobetti said the direness of the crisis of murdered or missing Indigenous women in the United States is quickly displayed. The violence faced by Native American women is hardly acknowledged, Shamas said. One in three Native women will be raped in her lifetime, she added.

“This (the land) is theirs (first women’s), and it is the Native community’s land and people and their stewardship of the earth that got us this far,” Shamas said. “It’s important that we highlight that Indigenous people are still here, Indigenous women are still here. And they’re fighters, they’re resilient and they’re first.”

Drawing script inspiration from her experience as an Indigenous woman, Shamas said violence against these women needs to be more recognized and addressed. She added that this play is a land acknowledgment that shows the resilience of Native women, which is the main theme of the play.

Unearthing the realities of Indigenous communities in America, “Four Women in Red” brings to light how difficult it is for Natives to get just representation and equal access to resources, said production designer and alumnus Evan Bartoletti. He added that the process of working on the production has caused him to realize how much more there is to learn about Native American issues.

Exploring a range of emotions – from laughter to anger to curiosity – the production team prioritized hiring as many Indigenous cast members as possible to highlight Indigenous voices, Gobetti said. For example, costume designer Lorna Bowen, a member of Muscogee Creek Nation, Seminole and Cherokee, lighting designer Grayson Basina, an Ojibwe, and director Jeanette Harrison, an Onondaga, bring unique perspectives to this play, she added.

Furthermore, this alumni-led play prioritizes the strength and female leadership of the first women, Shamas said. The fact that Shamas, Lechuga, Bartoletti and Gobetti all attended UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television at different times speaks volumes to the caliber and richness of the UCLA experience, Shamas added.

“The four years I matriculated there truly helped me throughout my career in theater,” Shamas said. “There was a completeness to the program there that was really great for me, to complete me as a theater artist. Throughout the years, I’ve been able to call on those traits that I learned.”

Bartoletti said that during his time at UCLA, he was able to work very interdepartmentally – something that did not exist in other places – which helped propel his career. The writing and production team did not realize the high amount of UCLA involvement in this play until they were at the first reading of the production, something that was a happy accident, Lechuga said.

Also hosting a series of talkbacks to accompany the premiere of this play, Shamas and other team members will offer deeper insight into the topics of violence against Native women, the writer said. In an effort to raise awareness for first women, Shamas said audiences can learn more about issues faced by Native American communities and action items to work towards solving them. Reading this story and seeing it come to life on stage personalizes this crisis by highlighting the lives of those affected, Bartoletti said.

“What Laura has done that is so incredible is these four distinct characters and their resilience in them working together,” Bartoletti said. “The heart and soul are these women and their characters, and they’re very richly rendered.”