‘Bingo Hall’ brings Native stories to the stage in Austin

Community members gathered at the Austin Town Hall Cultural Center on Nov. 6 for a staged reading of Bingo Hall and a panel discussion on identity, heritage and belonging, according to Austin Weekly News.

Playwright Dillon Chitto, a Mississippi Choctaw, Laguna and Isleta Pueblo artist, joined Osage director Elise Bear and moderator Tony Bondoc from the League of Chicago Theatres. The play follows a young Pueblo man, Edward Anaya, who faces the decision to leave home for college or stay connected to his community. Bear said the themes resonated with their own experiences growing up on the Osage Reservation, and Chitto said the work aims to highlight migration and movement rather than focusing solely on trauma.