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FO’I LOLE
by Lofanitani Aisea (Black, Tongan, Modoc, Klamath, Cherokee)
Directed by Amber Kay Ball
Native Playwrights PDX, Barbies Village, Portland OR 2025
The Nut, The Hermit,
The Crow and the Monk
by Rhiana Yazzie (Navajo)
Co-Directed by Amber Kay Ball + Rhiana Yazzie
New Native Theatre, Minneapolis MN 2025
Native Roots Radio
Robert Pilot and Haley Cherry welcome back Robert Lilligren, President and CEO of NACDI! Then, Rhiana Yazzie, Playwright, Filmmaker, Director, and Artistic Director of New Native Theatre and Amber Ball, Playwright, Director and Visual Artist join to talk about NNT’s production of “The Nut, the Hermit, the Crow, and the Monk.”
Regional Reviews: Minneapolis/St. Paul
The Nut, the Hermit, the Crow and the Monk
New Native Theatre
Review by Arthur Dorman | Season Schedule
New Native Theatre Presents The Nut, the Hermit, The Crow, and The Monk
“New Native Theatre is premiering the last play in its 15th Anniversary with a new play, The Nut, The Hermit, The Crow, and The Monk. Written and directed by Rhiana Yazzie, the theatre’s founder and Artistic Director, with co-direction by Amber Ball, this comedy follows a zillennial brother and sister on a self-help journey inspired by The Odyssey and Alice in Wonderland. Their adventure is a quest to confront and heal from the boarding school trauma passed down through generations. This is Yazzie’s first project after writing and directing The Other Children of The Sun at The Kennedy Center this winter.”
Little Ones
Libretto by Rhiana Yazzie (Navajo)
Original Composition by Danielle Jagelski
Assistant Director Amber Kay Ball
Renegade Opera, Portland, OR 2024
Native Opera Debuts Script Reading in Portland
“Little Ones,” a comedic opera telling the story of Indigenous youth at Intermountain Indian School, is in its beginning stages of development but gave a glimpse of what’s to come with the launch of its community listening tour at the Center for Native Arts and Cultures.Underscore News
Renegade Opera, Portland, OR 2024
Embers Borne West
by Maddox K Pennington
Director Amber Kay Ball
First Storytellers Festival, Boulder CO 2024
Finding BigFooot
by Amber Kay Ball
Director Real Vargas Alanis
Fertile Grounds PDX New Play Festival, Barbies Vilage, Portland, OR. 2024
Tipi Tales From the Stoop
by Murielle Borst-Tarrant(Kuna/Rappahannock)
Director Amber Kay Ball
Reflections of Native Voices Festival 2022, New York Theatre Workshop
Dracula Spectacular!
by Dylan Thomas Elwood
Director and Teaching Artist Amber Kay Ball
Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre
ACT Theatre Seattle and Daybreak Star Culture Center
Tipi Tales From the Stoop
by Murielle Borst-Tarrant (Kuna/Rappahannock)
Co Director Amber Kay Ball with Henu Josephine Tarrant
Short Film Adaptation
Tipi Tales From The Stoop,
by Murielle Borst-Tarrant (Kuna/Rappahannock)
“This story is about my matriarch blood ties to the soil of our ancestral house on Degraw St. in Brooklyn, New York. This story is about my family’s triumph of will, intergenerational dysfunction & historical trauma through laughter. My personal recollection of the family’s foundation. Step into the storybook of one Tipi Tales of the city…” - Murielle Borst-Tarrant
New American Theatre Festival,
Panel Series sponsored by HowlRound
Creative Producer and Curation by Amber Kay Ball
“The New American Theatre Festival
B Street Theatre and In the Margin come together to present the inaugural New American Theatre Festival (NATF). The NATF focuses on embracing intersectional new works as the default for the American Theatre canon by inspiring change, demanding proactive action in pursuit of justice, and welcoming a new renaissance.”
Decolonization Celebration,
Indigenous Variety Show!
Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland OR 2019
Creative Director and Producer
“In downtown Ashland, the town known as a theater destination, costumes worn by native cast members were on display at the Black Swan Theatre. Inside a stark room the exhibit ranged from brightly patterned textiles to rawhide dresses. According to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Amber Ball, the display was meant to show the variety of native identity in theater. ”
Press and Appearances
Awards
Miller Foundation Spark Awardee, 2025
PICA PDX Precipie Fund Co-Awardee, 2024
Fertile Grounds PDX, Grow Grant Recipient. 2024
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Indigenous Place Keeping Artist Fellowship. 2024
National New Play Network, Inaugural Bridge Program Cohort Member 2021
Community Mentor Award presented by Southern, Oregon University’s Native American Studies Department. 2020