2026 Finalist
“I” is for Invisible
Synopsis:. “I” is for Invisible follows one family’s urgent search for their missing loved one amid the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, confronting apathetic law enforcement and a system built to overlook them. Interwoven with Cherokee cosmology, this mysterious thriller explores grief, hope, and the fight for visibility, justice, and healing.
Workshops and readings are scheduled for April 2026 as part of PlayFest Indy (the New Harmony Project). The Native Theatre Project will have a workshop and reading on May 5, the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women/Relatives.
Cast Breakdown: 2 Native women, 1 white woman/3 Native Men
Bio: DeLanna Studi (she/hers) is a proud citizen of the Cherokee Nation and the Artistic Director of Native Voices, the only Equity theater dedicated to Native playwrights. A 2022 United States Artists Fellow and recipient of the Advance Gender Equity in the Arts Legacy Playwright Award, her accolades include the Butcher Scholar Award and support from the Doris Duke Performing Artist Fund. Her debut play, And So We Walked, based on retracing her family’s footsteps along the Trail of Tears, premiered Off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane and was recorded for Audible. Additional works include I is for Invisible, Capax Infiniti, Before America Was America, Wolves, Flight, and Project Golda. She has contributed essays to contributions to Indigenizing Spaces and B.A. Van Sise’s On the National Language: The Poetry of America’s Endangered Tongues. As an actor, her credits include the first national tour of Broadway’s August: Osage County, Off-Broadway’s Gloria: A Life, and roles in Reservation Dogs, Disney’s The Roof, and the Peabody award winning Edge of America. She is the current Playwright in Residence at Geva Theatre and has led workshops and residencies across universities, museums, and festivals nationwide.