MVSKOKE RESERVATION – On Aug 29, Paul Pierce, senior advisor to the Springer Opera House, spoke to LiveWire about his new production, “The MVSKOKE Project”. The State Theatre of Georgia commissioned the award-winning Muscogee (Creek) playwright Eri Nox to write a play focused on the span of Mvskoke history and culture. The play began with a workshop at the College of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in 2023 and is currently in the writing phase. It is scheduled to premiere on April 3, 2025 at the Springer Opera House.
The Springer is a National Historic Landmark located in Columbus, Ga., part of the ancestral homelands. At 153 years old, it is one of the oldest operating theaters in the country. The theater operates a main stage season, a studio series, and a children’s theater along with educational programming called the Springer Theater Academy. Peirce had worked as the producing artist director at the Springer for 35 seasons until his recent retirement in 2023. He now serves as senior advisor. Nox, a graduate of The New School and Brooklyn College and a former Fullbright scholar, has had works staged in New York, Los Angeles, Krakow, Edinburgh, and Berlin.
Pierce’s own curiosity and willingness to learn expanded with a phone call from Nox around four years ago. He explained, “I got a phone call from a Muscogee playwright named Eri Nox who wanted to know whether I knew and understood that this theater was sitting on traditional Mvskoke land. And I told them I did. And the conversation started from there.”
Pierce explained how the play is being written with Nox and a group of six actor-writers who meet virtually bimonthly. “We share ideas, share writing, and we do readings as we go along, and then we talk about the work that’s being done, and little by little, Eri is folding this work into what will ultimately be the play.”
Peirce is keenly aware after a lifetime in the Southeast of the dearth of knowledge local folks have about Mvskoke history. He shared, “One of my interests and itches you might say was that I had seen in the 35 years that I’ve been in Columbus, Georgia that the people who live down in this part of the world really know almost nothing about the Muscogee people, even though they speak the place names every day of their lives.”
With the play, he and Nox wanted to create something that both non-Mvskoke Georgians could understand and Mvskoke people in Oklahoma could appreciate. He said, “…it could possibly, who knows, be the beginning of a more profound and long-lasting partnership.”
Mvskoke Involvement
The project has benefited from a 2023 workshop at the College of the Muscogee Nation that aimed to include Mvskoke artists, writers, historians and scholars in the Mvskoke Reservation and beyond. Mvskoke artists Lea McCormick and Amanda Rutland have collaborated with the project. Rutland even designed the graphic logo for the project. John Beaver and ShaVon Agee have also lent their knowledge and expertise to “The Mvskoke Project” by sharing their time and knowledge with Pierce and Nox.
In addition to the input of Mvskoke historians and artists, the project is also looking for theater tradespeople. Pierce stated, “One thing I would like to make clear is we are committed to an all-Native cast and crew on this show. And my preference is Muscogee.” The production has not yet filled all the acting positions and is currently looking for theatrical designers, costume designers, scenic designers, and sound designers.
For more information about “The Mvskoke Project,” and the Springer Opera House, visit The Mvskoke Project. To contact Pierce about working with the project, contact him at ppierce@springeroperahouse.org.
