Two upcoming Kansas City events, a staged reading and a movie screening, focus on Native America voices. The first is a staged reading of “Woven Memory,” a play by local playwright Dianne Yeahquo Reyner, one of the founders of the American Indian Repertory Theatre, on April 13 and 14. It will be preceded by a screening of the film “Neither Wolf nor Dog” including a talkback-discussion with Reyner and others on April 12.

The movie screening is set for Thursday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Tivoli Movie Theater, 4050 Pennsylvania, Kansas City, Mo. The staged reading the following two days, presented by Westport Center for the Arts, will be held at Westport Presbyterian Church, 201 Westport Road, Kansas City, Mo. on Friday and Saturday, April 13-14, 7:30 p.m.

Advance tickets for the play/staged reading and the movie are $15.00. Tickets to the film screening alone are $5 alone at the Tivoli, and those who take their ticket stubs to the theater get a discounted theater ticket for $10.

“Woven Memory” is an original work including adaptations of traditional stories and interviews. The play follows two main characters, Grandmother Spider and Coyote, beginning at the creation. It opens with music and dancing, and continues to unfold through the dialogue and shared memories of the two.

“Neither Wolf nor Dog” recounts the story of a Lakota elder who summons a Caucasian author to visit him and write a book about the Lakota people. After a blundering false start, he is all but kidnapped and sucked into a road trip through the heart of the contemporary Native American landscape. “

Dianne Yeahquo Reyner, an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, is a performer and director. She is a founding member of both the Lawrence, Kansas – based American Indian Repertory Theater in 2006 and the Thunderbird Theater at Haskell Indian Nations University in 1974. She also worked with author-director Ping Chong on the development of “Native Voices – Secret History,” which explored race, culture and identity in America. She has served as a community cultural liaison for the Lied Center of Kansas and a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. Reyner developed and directed the original production of

“ReGenerations: a celebration of our journey and transformation” at the Lawrence Arts Center and continues to present work that blends traditional and contemporary storytelling.