FastHorse’s satire, “The Thanksgiving Play,” opened on Broadway in April. In “The Thanksgiving Play,” four white performers struggle to present a school pageant that is culturally sensitive to Native people — without actually including any Native Americans in the pageant.

Meanwhile, FastHorse’s “Wicoun” is a heartfelt work that explores the strength, beauty, humor and perseverance of the Indigenous culture, language and identity of the Northern Plains. In “Wicoun,” a Lakota teen named Áya and their brother Kȟoškálaka are raising siblings and cousins and dealing with zombies on the prowl, all while trying to graduate from high school.

After Áya summons a traditional superhero in a moment of bravery, Áya and Kȟoškálaka embark on a journey across the lands of the Oceti Sakowin to find answers in the old stories, within themselves and in the Black Hills.

FastHorse calls “Wicoun” the most meaningful play of her career because it is a chance to work on her Native land in collaboration with her own people, according to a press release announcing the upcoming performances. FastHorse is a member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation. She grew up in Winner and Pierre.

“Growing up as a Lakota woman in South Dakota, I believed that I had to leave to be a professional performing artist,” she said. “That is why doing this production at home is important to me. We are employing so many local Native American artists and production people. We are creating a model for touring both rural and urban tribal centers. We are showing my people as contemporary artists while still using our language and traditional concepts.”

The cast of “Wicoun” features six community actors from the Dakota, Nakota and Lakota tribes, along with two Cornerstone Theater Company ensemble members and dozens of puppets. Performed in Lakota, Dakota and English, the production was designed in collaboration with Oceti Sakowin artists — storyteller, scholar and translator, Jerome Kills Small; sound designer Talon Bazille Ducheneaux; designer Tosa Two Heart; and graffiti muralist Focus. Cornerstone Theater Company also commissioned Lakota recording artist Tiana Spotted Thunder to create a song for the opening and closing of the show.

“Wicoun” is the third in a series of collaborations between Cornerstone Theater Company, FastHorse and Indigenous people. The first production was “Urban Rez,” a story with and about Native people of the Los Angeles Basin. The second production, “Native Nation,” was a collaboration with representatives of more than 20 tribes in and from the Phoenix, Arizona area.

In 2022, FastHorse collaborated with Black Hills Community Theatre as its artist-in-residence. Her comedy, “Average Family,” opened BHCT’s 2022-23 season in Rapid City. The comedy focuses on the Roubidouxes, a typical technology-loving, city-dwelling family who have an Indigenous heritage. When the Roubidouxes are “randomly” chosen to compete on a reality TV show against the Monroes, a rustic working-class family, culture shock ensues.

In conjunction with her long-time director and collaborator, Cornerstone Theater Company’s artistic director Michael John Garcés, FastHorse’s playwriting strives to serve the stories and aspirations of a network of interrelated rural communities. FastHorse and Cornerstone Theater Company have visited cultural centers on eight of South Dakota’s nine reservations, including the Heritage Center at Red Cloud Indian School, the South Dakota Urban Indian Health in Sioux Falls, and the Oglala Lakota Artspace in Kyle.

FastHorse and Cornerstone Theater Company have taught workshops at the Lakota Nation Education Conference, the Cheyenne River Youth Project and the Waterlily Storytelling Institute, and they have led summer camp programs at Milks Camp with Lakota Youth Development, and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Title One Program. Other partners include First Peoples Fund, Racing Magpie, Black Hills Playhouse, Black Hills Community Theatre, the City of Rapid City, Brave Heart Society in Lake Andes, and individual Lakota culture bearers.

‘Wicoun’ show times and locations

“Wicoun” premieres at 2 p.m. Thursday at Black Hills Playhouse in Custer State Park. “Wicoun” is an outdoor theatrical experience that will be performed near Haberman Hall at the Playhouse. Seating is non-ticketed and available on a first come, first served basis; admission is a free-will offering. Audiences are encouraged to bring their own chairs or blankets. The play runs for about 75 minutes.

Rapid City performances of “Wicoun” are scheduled Friday at 6 p.m. at Racing Magpie, 801 St. Andrew St., Saturday at 7 p.m. at Main Street Square, and June 3 at 5 p.m. at Memorial Park Bandshell.

“Wicoun” also will be performed June 5, with shows at 1 p.m. at Red Shirt School in Hermosa and at 7 p.m. at Little Wound School Auditorium. Additional performances are scheduled throughout the state through June 15.