7 Stages Artistic Director Heidi S Howard talks with long-time collaborators Tim Miller‬ and Scott Turner Schofield ‬ about their lives and works. This conversation is in anticipation of a double-feature at the theatre: Miller’s performances of “A Body in the O” and a screening of Schofield’s film “Becoming a Man in 127 Easy Steps“.

Powwows are a beautiful celebration of Native American culture, community, and tradition. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a regular attendee, it’s important to follow the proper etiquette and rules out of respect for the Dancers, Drum groups, Elders, and the sacredness of the event.

When the Powwow or Grand Entry begins, you are expected to follow the rules and guidelines. Here’s what to expect:

• The Master of Ceremonies otherwise known as the MC will guide the Powwow, explain protocols, and let visitors know when participation is welcome. Please pay close attention, this helps to ensure everyone enjoys the experience respectfully.
• During Grand Entry, please stand and remove hats throughout the entire Grand Entry. The MC will announce when it begins and ends. Grand Entry is a moment of prayer, honor, and unity.
• Honor Veterans and Elders. Many Powwows include a veteran’s song or dance. When this happens, everyone is asked to stand and remove hats to show respect and gratitude.  Many people also take a stand for prayer songs.
• DO NOT enter the dance arbor. Once the arena (dance circle) has been blessed, please do not enter unless invited by the MC. Guests may join only during special dances. Dances such as:
• Intertribal Dances
• Round Dances
• Blanket Dances
• Honoring Dances

Participation opportunities:

• Veteran’s March
• Intertribal Dances
• Tiny Tot or Candy Dances (for the children)

Powwows welcome everyone to share in the celebration respectfully. If you’re unsure whether you may join a dance, simply ask a dancer, arena director, or the MC. They’ll gladly guide you.

• RESPECT the dancers and their Regalia. Do not call the regalia “costumes” as they’re a reflection of identity, family, spirituality, tradition, and culture.
• Do not touch Regalia without asking permission. This includes feathers, beadwork, and other sacred items.
• Use respectful language when talking about dancers, traditions, drums, and songs.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILMING:

• Always ask permission: If you wish to photograph or film an individual or group, ask for their consent first.
• Respect announcements: The MC will inform the crowd when photography / recording is not allowed, such as during prayers, certain songs or ceremonies.
• For professionals: If you plan to use images for commercial purposes, obtain written permission or a signed release form from the individual/s.

BEFORE YOU GO:

• Bring a chair: Seating is often limited. Please bring your own chair and be mindful that chairs placed under the arbor are reserved for the dancers. Chairs with shawls or blankets draped over them are also reserved.
• STAY SOBER AND DRUG FREE: Alcohol, drugs, and inappropriate behavior are strictly prohibited at all powwows.
• BE RESPECTFUL: Powwows are family-friendly events. Always use respectful languages and behaviors.

ADDITIONAL TIPS:

• Support Native Vendors and artists: Purchasing from vendors helps support local native business and communities and keeps traditions thriving.
• Be Mindful of Space: Avoid blocking the dancers, drums, or pathways.
• Come with a good heart: Powwows are a place of unity, healing, and celebration. Approach the event with openness, respect, and gratitude

ATLANTA – Now in its fourth year, First Voices Festival is coming full circle with more opportunities for Indigenous communities and Atlanta patrons. By inviting new collaborators, offering dynamic programming and more access to a variety of activities, new and returning guests are sure to enjoy these celebrations of Indigenous cultures.

The festival opens on November 14 with Art of Activism, a night of storytelling, music and traditional foods at 7 Stages with special guest William Harjo, a Muscogee (Creek) Elder who presents all over the country. A preshow reception in the lobby provided by food vendor and chef Tina Reyes (Apache) of Rez Juice brings us authentic sweet and savory Fry Bread and lemonade.

On November 15 and 16, the energy really picks up with a two day outdoor Powwow presented by Zintkala Zi PowWow, which is led by Buffalo Yellowbird, a citizen of Oglala Lakota Nation. The Powwow includes traditional drummers and dancers, traditional foods (fry bread, buffalo burgers, roasted corn, etc.), Indigenous vendors (jewelry, arts and crafts), demonstrations, and storytelling. Entry to these events is free, they are family friendly, and everyone is welcome.

On November 21, Out of Hand Theater will present Say Their Names at 7 Stages, which features  interwoven film and live performances written by Marcie Rendon, acclaimed author and citizen of the White Earth Nation. Following the presentation will be a community conversation about the lack of media representation for victims in marginalized communities, and how we can create a collective framework for continued dialogue, healing, and action.

First Voices Festival will conclude with a screening of the documentary She Cried That Day at Plaza Theatre on November 28. Director Amanda Erickson, a member of the San Carlos Apache, grew up in Peachtree City and earned her film degree at Georgia State University. Her film is about missing and murdered Indigenous women in New Mexico. This event will also feature a post-show conversation with Erickson.

These events are brought to you by 7 Stages, Turtle Island Trading, Little 5 Points Cultural District, Zintkala Zi PowWow, Plaza Theatre and Out of Hand Theater.

History and context:

 First Voices Festival began in 2022 when a few Atlanta organizations put their heads together to produce a multifaceted festival celebrating Indigenous cultures, something they weren’t seeing locally. At the center of these events was the Powwow, a traditional gathering with dance, music, food and socializing that originated among Native American tribes on the Great Plains.

For some, gathering in Atlanta marks a return to ancestral lands. Areas of what are now Georgia and Alabama were the territory of Muscogee (Creek) people, until many were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma in the 1800s where they were exposed to Plains Powwow traditions. Today Powwows are popular all over the United States and Canada, and many people wanted to see such an event in the heart of Atlanta.

Other events at First Voices Festival have included storytelling, talks, shared meals, concerts, and film screenings. All of these events celebrate Indigenous traditions and aim to bring awareness to the First Peoples of these lands, who are still here, and issues confronting them today.

About 7 Stages:

7 Stages brings local, national, and international emerging artwork of social, political, and spiritual importance to Atlanta audiences. Since 1979, artists of all kinds have found 7 Stages to be a haven for the development of new work.

7 Stages has resided on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Muscogee (Creek) people for over 46 years. While we produce content that spans nationally and internationally, it is essential for us to keep such inequities at the forefront of all that we do. We aim to honor these communities past, present and future through conversations, practices and programming that imagines and initiates what reparations look like for all. For every ticket sold, we include an Indigenous land use fee. The proceeds are donated to our Indigenous partners annually.

Our Mission: 7 Stages is a professional, non-profit theatre company devoted to engaging artists and audiences by focusing on the social, political, and spiritual values of contemporary culture. 7 Stages gives primary emphasis to international work and the support and development of new plays, new playwrights, and new methods of collaboration.

Our Vision: Our theatre will be a global center for the creation of vital conversations through collaborative performance.

Vitals: 

First Voices Festival

A celebration of Indigenous cultures.

November 14-28, 2025 in Atlanta, GA

Learn more at https://www.7stages.org/shows/first-voices-festival-2025/

Press inquiries: email devi@7stages.org

Photos and graphics available by request

Seeking professional actors, dancers, musicians of Indigenous descent.

“Say Their Names” – a live staged reading/developmental co-production between Out of Hand Theater and 7 Stages.

“Say Their Names“, written by Marcie Rendon (citizen of the White Earth Nation), is a multi-media presentation featuring interwoven film and live performances of the script, along with live drummers, dance and music. The goal is to raise awareness about  MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) and inspire audiences to take action to address the issue.

Working with identified partners in the Indigenous community, Out of Hand will create a framework to engage audiences in a discussion focused on Awareness, Amplification, and Action.

7 Stages will present this as part of the Home Brew Series New Works in Development Program during the First Voices Festival: A Celebration of Indigenous Cultures. 

—

AUDITION DATE/TIME: 

Thursday, September 18, 2025

3pm – 7pm

Additional times may be available upon request. 

Auditions will take place at 7 Stages Theatre: 1105 Euclid Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30307

Please complete this form by clicking here to schedule an AUDITION TIME.

—

Actors 

Looking for female presenting actors to perform the live staged reading of the script. 

Please bring a 2 minute monologue (spoken word, poetry or storytelling is welcome).

—

Musicians and Dancers

Looking for accompanying artists of any gender to perform as ensemble members. 

Please bring a sample of your work (limited to 2 minutes)

—

*NOTE: All selected performers should be available for rehearsals and performance during the week of November 17-21, 2025. Times TBD. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Please complete this form by clicking here to schedule an AUDITION TIME for the Live Staged Reading / Developmental Production of “Say Their Names” – a co-production between Out of Hand Theater and 7 Stages Theatre.

A Letter from Artistic Director Heidi S Howard

Greetings loves,

As Summer nears its end, I reflect on the resilience, courage, and breath of all those who share 7 Stages as a home. I am filled with gratitude for our artists, students, patrons, renters, board and staff who remain committed to representing a multilayered global community through fierce and brave storytelling.

This past season, Youth Creates led us into a season full of celebration, shared methods, vital conversations, and courage to continue to find light in the shadows of these dark times. The long-term commitment of supporting new work, and new methods of producing resulted in the innovative world première of What Are You? which we have been creating for over 5 years with Nicolette Emanuelle. Stay tuned for our most recent new work we began with our dear friend Dorothy Victoria Bell during our Home Brew Series presentation of Incarceration Plantation: The Musical! Both Dorothy and Nicolette are fiercely weird in the most beautiful and courageous ways with their truths and artistry. Further, our colleagues and partners with First Voices Festival celebrations, Service Saturdays and Art of Activism programs have grounded our work in the community, beyond the stage, with grace.

These relationships, dreamings, gatherings and work remind me every day that we must always strive to be stewards of culture. We must keep collaborating, keep creating, keep taking risks and keep loving loud. By imagining new ways to bring light to the darkness, we continue to forge the way for the future.

Sending big love, may we all hold onto creative hope, breath and the courage to persevere. Onward we roll.

~ Heidi & the 7 Stages family

7 Stages Productions

Dream Theory – Where dreams and nightmares collide

July 2024

An original production by the Youth Creates 2024 Ensemble.

From the young minds of Youth Creates comes a world of gods, mortals, and monsters. As two sibling gods start to drift apart, their realms are placed on the verge of a devastating war. Will these realms break apart, or will this story have a happily ever after?

Youth Creates is 7 Stages’ training program providing experiential learning and performance opportunities for teenagers. Through playwriting, design, and performance, students collaborate to create an original production. We will explore various techniques and skills, support your visions and ultimately celebrate by welcoming audiences to our world premiere!

Third Annual First Voices Festival

November 2024

7 Stages joined forces with Turtle Island Trading, Zintkala Zi PowWow, the L5P Business Association and Plaza Theatre in producing the third annual First Voices Festival, A Celebration of Indigenous Cultures. Activities included the world premiere of What Are You? by Nicolette Emanuelle, an outdoor PowWow with Native American performers and vendors, an Art of Activism dialogue with Muscogee (Creek) elder William Harjo, and a special screening of the documentary Bad River at Plaza Theatre.

What Are You?

November 2024

An exploration of what it means to be multi-racial in America. Created by Nicolette Emanuelle, who has roots in the Lumbee tribe of North Carolina, this original production delves into the complexities of racial identity through a blend of movement, music, and personal testimonies.

Creator Nicolette Emanuelle, with Meredith Gordon, Monica Martell, Jacque Pritz and Arthur McDaniel, confronts the relentless question “what are you?”, weaving together striking and moving commonalities found in interviews with other multi-racial individuals, highlighting their unique struggles and the beauty of their identities.

Incarceration Plantation – A Home Brew Series work in development

March 2025

A sister and brother’s creative journey, despite the walls that keep them apart. They reflect on more than 30 years of dealing with America’s prison system, its impact, and how systemic racism and the disproportionate sentencing of Black people perpetuates a form of modern slavery.

7 Stages’ Home Brew Series, a program that provides a platform and resources for works in development. While Home Brews offer support at any stage in the development process, this new production is in the seedling stage. This public sharing will offer audiences select new musical and movement compositions, letters between Dorothy and Roger, original poetry created behind bars and a sneak peak into the overall storyline.

Vital Conversations

Art of Activism at First Voices Festival

November 2024

An evening of conversation and a shared meal, kicking off a full weekend of festivities with special guest Muscogee (Creek) elder William Harjo and loaded Fry Bread dishes from Three Sisters Soulfood!

William is a storyteller and flute maker who has been a part of Powwows all over the country, including First Voices Festival for the last two years. This was a great opportunity to talk with someone with lots of knowledge about Powwows, traditional arts, and history.

Flip the Dirt

January 2025

With an open stage and an open mic, we welcomed the public to gather in dance, story, music, poetry, and performance; to sketch the future of our beloved community.

Artists Theresa Davis, Dana Lupton, Celeste Miller, Shannon Turner, and Charné Furcron guided artistic responses, and the event culminated in a dance party for healing, ritual, and release.

Art of Activism – Responses and Dialogue inspired by Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown

March 2025

7 Stages brought together community experts, artists and patrons for a powerful conversation inspired by the book Interior Chinatown. By diving into this work, we could address representation and the reduction of the identities of people of color to stereotypes. 

The conversation was supported by the sharing of artistic responses from guest artists Dorothy Bell and Theresa Davis.

Writing Between the Frames – Poetry and prose in screenplay form

April 2025

This writing workshop hosted by Theresa Davis at ArtsXchange was inspired by the book Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. The event was a celebration of National Poetry Month, promoting literacy and storytelling with the Big Read.

“If your life were a movie, what genre would it be? What stereotypical role do you feel you’ve played in your life?” 

In this workshop, participants played with structure, identity, and self-perception, mirroring the layered storytelling in Interior Chinatown. The screenplay format exposed the roles we unconsciously perform while allowing for both humor and deep reflection.

7 Stages Collaborations

Supporting local artists through collaborative events.

Yallmark

An improvised parody of made-for-tv holiday movies received a full run at 7 Stages with Topher Payne, Amber Nash, and Kevin Gillese. Every night they took audience suggestions and used them to weave together a holiday romance that was equal parts homage and satire.

Southern Fried Bake-Off – Essential Theatre

In its second year, the Southern Fried Bake-Off was an exhilarating 24 hour play festival where participants wrote, rehearsed, and performed brand new plays based on a Bake-Off theme and a list of “ingredients,” then performed in front of a live audience. Playwrights and performers submitted and were selected randomly in a lottery.

Atlanta Fringe Festival 

The Atlanta Fringe Festival is an annual multidisciplinary performing arts event of galactic proportions. With more than 375 showtimes in 11 venues featuring everything from comedy and drama to dance, circus, magic, puppetry, and more, plus free Kids Fringe shows, free Street Fringe busking performances, and free Fringe Audio shows streaming online, there is truly something for everyone at the Fringe!

Service Saturdays

7 Stages regularly hosts Service Saturdays with the aim to help our community thrive by providing vital resources while bringing together local community-driven organizations under one roof. These free events also feature art pop-ups, open mics, and other creative activities.

Among the organizations we work with are Little Free Contentious Library, Just a Touch Ministries, Fulton County Board of Health, and LifeSouth Community Blood Centers.

Renovations/Improvements

Thanks to a Capital Improvement Grant from Georgia Council for the Arts, 7 Stages was able to make significant repairs to several areas of our theater.

• Back entrance canopy and loading door
• Second story canopy
• Bathroom wall panels
• Box office entrance

Click here for PDF Version of 2024/2025 Year in Review

ATLANTA, GA – 7 Stages will screen the documentary film “There is Another Way” on July 19, 2025 at 5:00 PM to benefit the organization at the center of the film: Combatants for Peace.

Combatants for Peace, nominated for two Nobel Peace Prizes, is an extraordinary bi-national group of former enemy combatants – Israelis and Palestinians – working together during an ongoing armed conflict.

Confronted with the devastation and escalating violence of October 7th and the war in Gaza, the very core of the movement faces great challenges in showing that there is another way. The first question they must answer relates to their own beliefs…is this possible?

“There is Another Way” tells the story of a group of visionaries who refuse to surrender to violence and injustice, and in doing so, show that another path is possible–for them, for us, and for all humanity.  As we are all faced with essential questions about who we are, will we choose collective liberation, where the needs, rights, and safety of all are prioritized–in which our humanity comes first, knowing that no one is free until everyone is free?

“There is Another Way” is about choosing our future. It takes courage to walk a path even when you yourself feel overwhelmed and afraid—a path where you don’t know the final answer, only that it will emerge from standing in the grief of what we, as humanity, have experienced and created and find yourself unable to turn away.

This screening is a fundraiser for the organization Combatants for Peace and is free to attend. The event will be oversold, so 7 Stages asks guests to arrive early to claim their seat, or to make a donation when reserving. 7 Stages will also be hosting a Service Saturday event from 2-5, so guests are welcome any time after 2 PM. All unclaimed tickets will be released 15 minutes before showing. Late seating will only be allowed if seats remain available. 7 Stages will accommodate as many guests as possible.

This film contains real violence and disturbing situations.

More information: 7stages.org/shows/thereisanotherwayscreening/
Tickets (Free/Donation): eventbrite.com/e/there-is-another-way-tickets-1434711543849

About 7 Stages:

7 Stages brings local, national, and international emerging artwork of social, political, and spiritual importance to Atlanta audiences. Since 1979, artists of all kinds have found 7 Stages to be a haven for the development of new work.

7 Stages has resided on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Muscogee (Creek) people for over 43 years. While we produce content that spans nationally and internationally, it is essential for us to keep such inequities at the forefront of all that we do. We aim to honor these communities past, present and future through conversations, practices and programming that imagines and initiates what reparations look like for all. For every ticket sold, we include an Indigenous land use fee. The proceeds are donated to our Indigenous partners annually.

Our Mission: 7 Stages is a professional, non-profit theatre company devoted to engaging artists and audiences by focusing on the social, political, and spiritual values of contemporary culture. 7 Stages gives primary emphasis to international work and the support and development of new plays, new playwrights, and new methods of collaboration.

Our Vision: Our theatre will be a global center for the creation of vital conversations through collaborative performance.

Today, on Juneteenth, we celebrate the life and works of a great poet, playwright, champion of Black consciousness and resistance. Robert Earl Price worked with 7 Stages since the 1980’s alongside founders Del Hamilton and Faye Allen. His plays, like HUSH: Composing Blind Tom Wiggins and All Blues graced our stages with beautiful and challenging art. 

In 2020, 7 Stages produced a film inspired by Robert’s book Blood Flow, which was devised and directed by Ashley James, and edited by Robby Miles. Featuring community members Yeye Olori Loriyomi (Mama Yeye), Dorothy Victoria Bell & Family, Jaden Gustin & Family, Chantiane Smith & Family, Abigail Richards & Family, Destiny Renee, Tyra Watkins, Parris Sarter, Efrem Whitaker, Darrell Grant, Danny Simmons, Kat Newton, Charles Swint, and Dr. L. Nyrobi Moss. Selected poems and original music composed and performed by Dorothy Victoria Bell, Eugene H. Russell IV, and Robert Earl Price.

“Our goal is to create a multimedia artwork that reflects the continuous role of art as a force of resistance to crimes against humanity past, present and future. We offer, in the times of pandemic, a racial strife and economic exploitation and oppression. A war dance, a battle cry, a chant that challenges times in all tenses. And inspiring vision of our world that we cannot turn away from.” – Robert Earl Price on the production of the 2020 Film Blood Flow

In celebration of Juneteenth and Robert Earl Price’s life, the film Blood Flow is available to view all Summer.

In Robert’s memory, the people he knew and worked with have kind words:

“Before I’d met Mr. Price, I’d heard his name in my living room as a teenager as I explained the newest venture I was about to embark on with 7 Stages with my parents. ‘Robert Earl Price is a legend!’ they exclaimed and the more I thought about it the more I realized that he’d been a topic of discussion in that same living room for years. As an impressionable young black actor, I was in awe being in his presence during our first meeting, to only be greeted with such a kind, bold, and caring soul. I will always cherish the few moments we shared.” – Kai Anwuzia, 7 Stages Programs Manager

“It is possible Robert is among the writers of his generation that holds hands with persons of great spirit, and that his healing words are significant poems for our times.  Surely his various readings and public performances, especially in the American South, are part of the healing processes being employed by others who share his poetic visions.” – Del Hamilton, 7 Stages Founder

“I remember sitting with Robert and Del for hours in the evening while on tour for HUSH. We would drink a night cap of whisky while they told story after story after story. I listened with my full heart. Maybe intentionally, or not, together with Del, Robert was teaching me how to live …to dream …to create …to see the world of possibility through the power of art, despite the dark times. His lessons will continue to fuel my courage to tell the hard stories with love, rhythm, and beauty. Thank you Robert. Rest in power my dear friend and mentor. “ – Heidi S Howard, 7 Stages Artistic Director

Rest in Power 

Beloved poet & friend

Robert Earl Price  

4/4/42 – 4/16/25

Obituary – Robert Earl Price – Kent County News

Remembrance: Poet and playwright Robert Earl Price blended words, music, memory – ArtsATL

Archive of Robert Earl Price’s Productions at 7 Stages – GSU

Black Cat Bones for Seven Sons, 1988

Canes Theme, 1988 

Yarbird’s Vamp, 1990 

Blue Monk, 1996 

HUSH: Composing Blind Tom Wiggins, 2002 

HUSH: Composing Tom Wiggins, 2003- 2004 tour

Come on in My Kitchen, 2006 

All Blues, 2011 

Blood Flow – a film as part of Home Brew at Home 2020