Omaha’s Great Plains Theatre Commons will be one of four sites to participate in a collaborative program for Indigenous and Native American playwrights.
The Four Directions Playwright Residency initiative is rooted in the belief that story making is both an artistic craft and a community act. The program is designed to interweave creative incubation and community engagement.
Dillon Chitto was selected as the 2026-27 residency recipient.
Chitto is a Mississippi Choctaw, Laguna, and Isleta Pueblo playwright originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico. He’s recently worked with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Perseverance Theatre, Santa Fe Playhouse, Ground Floor Theatre, Native Voices at the Autry, AlterTheater Ensemble and No Peeking Theatre.
GPTC Artistic Director Kevin Lawler said the organization is eager to welcome Chitto to the area for the program.
“The Four Directions Residency is a continuation of the long-term work that the GPTC has done to support Native playwrights and plays,” he said in a press release. “We are deeply excited to have Dillon Chitto join us for this year’s residency and festival.”
Chitto was selected by Native playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle, and alumni of the Four Directions program. This is the fourth year of the residency program. Previous recipients include Madeline Easley, Drew Woodson and Tomi Endter.
The program spans roughly a year, and consists of four one-week residencies at each partner institution. Chitto will begin in Omaha May 23-31 before moving on to sites in Minnesota, Oklahoma and Missouri. At each site, Chitto will be immersed in the local landscape, with opportunities to engage with the local indigenous communities, hold informal sharing sessions, and build early drafts with dramaturgical support.
He will have a public reading at KCRep, in Kansas City, as the final phase of the residency.