When Seattle Rep Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez said to staff at our Fancy Dancer Meet & Greet back in August that “some audiences may not be aware how significant a figure we have in residence,” it wasn’t an exaggeration. Fancy Dancer playwright and star Larissa FastHorse has earned significant acclaim and respect across the theater and entertainment world throughout her career. Her latest honor from Brandeis University only underscores that. 

On September 30, it was announced that FastHorse has been selected to receive the 2025 Brandeis Creative Arts Award—one of the most prestigious recognitions for active American artists.

This award’s roster reads like a hall of fame. Past recipients include playwrights August Wilson, Tennessee Williams, and Thornton Wilder; composers Richard Rodgers, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim; painter Georgia O’Keeffe; and dancers and choreographers Martha Graham, Jerome Robbins, and Alvin Ailey—among many others. FastHorse now stands among these pillars of artistic achievement.
 

^{Larissa FastHorse.}
 

Awards, Fellowships, and Milestones 

Here are just a few accolades that spotlight FastHorse’s remarkable career:  

One landmark of her career thus far has been her Broadway success. Her satirical comedy The Thanksgiving Play premiered in the 2022–2023 season, making her the first known female Native American playwright produced on Broadway. The play went on to become one of the top ten most produced plays in America during the 2023–2024 season—the first time a Native playwright has made it onto that top-ten list.  

FastHorse’s reach isn’t limited to commercial success. Her trilogy of community-engaged theater works with Cornerstone Theater Company—Urban Rez, Native Nation, and Wicoun—has been recognized for its deep cultural collaboration (and will be published and released this November with Michael John Garcés). In particular, Native Nation involved over 400 Indigenous artists and became one of the largest Indigenous theater productions in U.S. history. And in her role as professor of practice (literature) in Arizona State University’s Department of English, her reach extends into shaping the next generation of writers and voices.  

She also has won support from major arts funders, including Creative Capital, MAP Fund, Mellon Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
 

^{Larissa FastHorse starring in her autobiographical world premiere of Fancy Dancer at Seattle Rep (2025).}
 

FastHorse at Seattle Rep