Clouds are Pillows for the Moon (musical)

Clouds are Pillows for the Moon is a musical written by Ty Defoe and composed by Tidtaya Sinutoke. The story follows Ella Horses, a Native American girl who seeks to discover herself after the recent death of her mother.

Background and development

"Clouds are Pillows for the Moon" was developed by Ty Defoe and Tidtaya Sinutoke during their time at New York University's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Defoe, a Native American (Ojibwe and Oneida) two-spirit writer, decided to collaborate with fellow theatre artist Tidtaya Sinutoke to create a piece of theatre that would include people with intersecting identities and disparate ideas of home - something they both believed was underrepresented in the existing canon of American theatre. Defoe and Sinutoke's show went on to be the first musical in b-side productions' developmental lab series in 2014. A staged reading was hosted by the Yale School of Drama as part of the Yale Institute for Music Theatre. In August 2014, a staged workshop was held at the Frederick Loewe Theatre in New York City, hosted by the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.

Synopsis

Prologue

A ritual is seen taking place throughout the space as the voices of many echo throughout the space.

Act 1

The ritual continues, mourning the death of a tribal member ("Warrior Woman"). The voices of the tribal chants grow as Ella, a young, half Ojibwe and half white woman begins to tell the story of her late mother, who sings in spirit as Spirit Lulu. She battles balancing the Happy wolf with the Angry wolf from within (Angel vs Devil) as she remembers her mother's encouraging words to embrace the positive. Overwhelmed by her mother's death, Ella refuses to sing at the ceremony as she runs away to her treehouse, humming her mother's lullaby ("Memory"). Ella receives a contact card of a caretaker in Chicago her mother had planned for her, as she dreams about breaking free from the confines of the reservation and exploring the world as she desires ("Running").

In Chicago, Patty and her partner, Lisa eagerly await the arrival of Ella to their home as they have set it up perfectly ("Perfectly Perfect"). Patty and Lisa welcome Ella with open arms as she settles in for her first night in their home over dinner. She asks Patty about her mother, about the willow tree they both lived in two weeks and the scar her mother had above her lip ("Willow").

It is September in Chicago and Ella has been sent to the St. Joan of Arc Catholic High School. Quickly bullied by her Sassy Girl classmates for her exotic, "Indian" background, she confides in P, (Prick), a foreign-exchange student from Thailand. They bond over their love of snow, for P, being non-existent in Thailand except for at Dream World Park, and for Ella, reminding her of eating snow cones with her mother ("Snow"). The Sassy Girls bullies P and Ella for their friendship as they get into a fight, with Ella standing up for P. The fight ends with the two of them getting suspended and reprimanded by Father Ed who gives Ella an Indian bible, getting confused with the term "Indian," as Ella's behaviors are quickly rejected by the religious school. She cries out ("Nii Ma/Running [Reprise]") to her mother's spirit that she feels she does not fit in or between the two extremes of the happy wolf and the angry wolf, while she continues to search for her purpose. Furious with her treatment at school, she encourages P that night to escape Chicago with her to return to the reservation ("Blood Sisters") to release her mother's spirit, as they plan their escape by car.

Act 2

Ella and P, in a car on their way to Wisconsin, are blasting a playlist of all-American music through the radio ("Good Time in the U.S.A./American Girl"). They begin to argue about their cultures as Native American and Thai and tries to further discover themselves by questioning "What's American anyway?" Patty is left in Chicago, having just lost her foster child is worried about Ella. She sees Spirit Lulu and is forced to reconsider her life choices, as she was the only one Lulu trusted on the reservation ("Wind"). Patty and Lisa both vow through their marriage to find Ella as a team ("Holding On"). Meanwhile, Ella and P reach a nearby reservation holding a male traditional dance competition offering $2000 to the winner. Ella decides to borrow some regalia on a nearby tree stump to enter the competition. Instead of the expected traditional native dance, Ella performs traditional ballet as learned through her lessons in Chicago ("Pride"). In awe she wins the competition and money as her and P fill up the tank at a gas station. P encourages Ella to strongly consider returning to the reservation to see her mother's spirit. She had let down his host family by escaping, now she did not Ella to do the same ("Little Bird").

Ella finally reaches her home reservation of the Ojibwe Tribe as the language of her childhood echo through her ears once more ("O, Ojibwe [Reprise]"). The sun sits low in the sky as she makes her way by canoe to Madeline Island. The voices of the spirits grow as they row closer to the island ("Closer"), to see Patty already waiting with Chief Dave. Ella runs towards her mother's grave as she sings to her, regretting her disappearance at her ceremony ("Clouds are Pillows for the Moon"). Ella realizes that everything is temporary and fleeting, but can exist within nature, the clouds and the stars, as she knees upon the grave and places a clove of lavender on it. Suddenly, Spirit Lulu appears for Ella as the spirit comforts her from the terrors of life. The spirit reiterates the battle she will always face between the Happy wolf and the angry wolf and the choice is within hers to make. The spirit also reassures Ella that she is not alone and to look at everyone around her as they are all connected ("Same Star"). She encourages her daughter to keep moving on and that she can always visit her at her grave. Ella finally releases Nii Ma as the spirits carry her away to the after-life as the miracle of snow begins to fall from the sky, a sign of release and forgiveness. Ella stands in the canoe surrounded by all her friends as she promises to keep running, moving, searching and howling for the wolf that she is as she journeys into the world of womanhood.

Character Descriptions

Character
Ella Horses	17, is part Ojibwe and White, Ella is on the brink of womanhood. She is a natural born leader. She is hot blooded in nature and moves through the world with her animal instinct.
Lulu Horses	Ella's mother. She is feisty by nature. She is also a natural born leader and knows what she wants. She is spiritual when she wants to be. She knows more than she thinks.
Prick "P" Prayunwong	17. P is a foreign exchange student from Thailand. P is vibrant and sincere. Pis very awkward by nature. She is a quick learner and is constantly discovering.
Patty	Irish American lesbian. She is a well-educated art collector and desires to save the world.
Lisa	All American white lesbian. Lisa wants a hetero-normative life style. Patty's younger lover.
John/Tribes People/ Aden (Glitter 5)	15. John is the only white kid on the reservation. He is well read and educated.
Fox Horses/Tribes People/R&B Singer/ Young Vet	13. He's on autistic spectrum. He knows about everything that happens on the reservation.
Chief Dave/Father Ed/Emcee	Part Native American, African-American, or Latino. Is the tribal chairman of the reservation. he carries masculinity, and is comical in nature. An authority figure.
Ensemble	Tribes People, Spirit Voice, Bus Announcer, Sister Mercy, Eve the Sassy Girl, Faith the Sassy Girl, Trinity the Sassy Girl, Altar Boy, iPod Announcer, R&B Backup Singer, Glitter 5, Glitter 5 Backup Dancers

Song List

Act One				Act Two
	Warrior Woman	Lulu, Ella, & Ensemble		13.	Baby Girl	R&B Singers & R&B Backup Singers
	Memory	Ella		14.	Good Times in the U.S.A./American Girl	Glitter 5, P, & Ella
3.	Just Like... Her	Patty & Lulu		15.	Wind	Lulu & Patty
4.	O, Ojibwe	Chief Dave & Patty		16.	Holding On	Lisa & Patty
5.	Running	Ella		17.	Veteran's Entrance	Veteran & Tribes People
6.	Perfectly Perfect	Lisa, Patty, & Ella		18.	Pride	Ella, Veteran, & Tribes People
7.	Willow	Patty & Lulu		19.	Little Bird	P & Ella
8.	St. Joan of Arc	Ensemble		20.	O, Ojibwe (Reprise)	Fox
9.	Snow	P & Ella		21.	Closer	Ensemble
10.	Snow (Reprise)	Ella & P		22.	Clouds Are Pillows for the Moon	Ella
11.	Nii Ma/Running (Reprise)	Lulu & Ella		23.	Lulu, Ella, & Ensemble
12.	Blood Sisters	Ella & P

Reception, Critique and Accolades

"Clouds are Pillows for the Moon" is praised by members of the Native Americans, the LGBT community, and other minority groups for producing a form of theatre that represents the voices of those people who are often overlooked or misspoken of in American society. Those who have read or seen his play feel that Ty's musical break down the barriers that keep them from discovering their full identity instead of placing each person in a one category box. As well as feeling free to be able to discover ones place in the world and understand that one person does not have to identify will only one image of who they are as a person.

"These ways of identifying are only parts of me, but as I move through the world, I find that I can’t take off my identities like a jacket and simply hang them in the closet. They are interwoven, and in creating any theatre that has verisimilitude or humanity, I must lean into the intersection of identities."

"Clouds are Pillows for the Moon" is a commentary on what is recognized as "American" in terms of identity. Ty is exploring how to challenge the current infrastructure of identities and create a "new nation of theatre" that will include all variations of identity a person connects with in a space we can use to express, to heal, to celebrate, and to tell our stories. "Clouds are Pillows for the Moon" specifically focuses on redefining the identity of Native Americans as well as American. The play calls for an alliance from its audience members to expand understanding of the two-spirit identity that Ty and others relate with.

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References

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