Indians (play)
"Indians" is a play by Arthur Kopit that critiques the portrayal of Native Americans in American culture, particularly through the lens of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. The narrative opens with a striking visual tableau of museum displays featuring iconic figures like Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull, which transitions into a dramatic representation of Cody's life spanning twenty-four years, from Geronimo’s surrender to the Wounded Knee Massacre. The play highlights the contradictions and hypocrisy inherent in the romanticized narratives of American history, particularly regarding the treatment of Native Americans during westward expansion.
Kopit wrote "Indians" against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, which influenced its themes of violence and media manipulation. Originally premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London due to the controversial nature of its content, the play garnered attention for its critical perspective on American politics and military actions. Although it had a short run in New York due to high production costs, it remains one of Kopit's most recognized works. The play's exploration of historical narratives and its commentary on societal issues continue to resonate, making it a significant piece in the context of American theater and cultural discourse.
Indians (play)
Produced 1968
Author Arthur Kopit
A play about the legendary Indian fighter and showman “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Although set in the late 1800’s, the play is Kopit’s vehicle for exploring contemporary American mythology and its supposed “historical amnesia,” a mind-set Kopit believed led the United States into the morass of the Vietnam War.
Key Figures
Arthur Kopit (1937- ), playwright
The Work
Indians opens with an eerie onstage tableau of three glass museum display cases: the first contains an effigy of Buffalo Bill in riding costume, the second a plainly dressed Sitting Bull, and the third an assortment of artifacts a buffalo skull, a rifle, a bloody Indian shirt. In a sudden cacophony of light and sound, the display cases recede and are replaced by the “real” Cody, riding his white horse inside a show ring and waving his Stetson hat to the crowd. Then, from the darkness at the edge of the stage, ghostly Indians begin appearing. The horse shies, and Cody looks around in terror. He desperately proclaims to the audience, “I am a fine man. And anyone who says otherwise is wrong. . . . ” The twelve scenes that follow, in flashback, represent twenty-four years in the life of Cody during a time when the U.S. government killed or displaced numerous tribes of Native Americans from their land. Between Geronimo’s surrender and the Wounded Knee Massacre, Cody meets up with Ned Buntline, a dime-novel writer who helps create the “Buffalo Bill” myth that will become the basis for his popular Wild West Show. The show, ironically, features Sitting Bull and other real-life characters playing themselves, though the events they portray are rewritten for public consumption. Near the end of the play, an army officer who has just taken part in a group slaughter of Indians is being interviewed by the press; he tells them “Of course, our hearts go out to the innocent victims of this . . . ” The line is identical to one spoken by General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam. Kopit credited the Vietnam War as being the impetus for writing Indians.
Impact
Although Indians was in large part a commentary on the hypocrisy of the modern United States’ political and military leaders, it came at a time when U.S. society was so deeply divided over the Vietnam War that Kopit decided the play could not receive an objective viewing in its own country. As a result, Indians was first produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and premiered in London on the Fourth of July, 1968. “Even before I started to write it,” Kopit said, “I knew it would have to be produced in England so that it could have a life, so that it would be done in theaters around the world . . . and judged on its merits.” Kopit’s strategy to “depoliticize” the play apparently worked. When it was produced in New York during the 1969 theatrical season, most newspaper reviewers regardless of their opinion of the play failed to mention in their reviews the obvious parallel between Indians and the Vietnam War. The play is generally considered Kopit’s best work. It ran for only one season in New York apparently not from lack of audience interest but from the tremendous staging costs involved. Director Robert Altman bought the film rights to Indians, and the play was the basis for his 1976 film Buffalo Bill and the Indians, with Paul Newman in the role of Cody.
Related Work
Another first-class anti-Vietnam War play is David Rabe’s Sticks and Stones (1971).
Additional Information
For an overview of Kopit’s plays and of his influence on American theater, see Shepard, Kopit, and the Off Broadway Theater (1982), by Doris Auerbach.