Timothy White Eagle

At this time, due to the COVID-19 public health crisis, we have decided to postpone the ticketed live performance of Timothy White Eagle’s The Violet Symphony.  

If you currently have a ticket you can: 

• Do nothing. The price of your ticket will still support the art and artists at On the Boards. 
• Exchange your ticket for a yearlong subscription to OntheBoards.Tv. 
• Exchange your ticket for a performance in our 2020-2021 (yet to be announced) season. 
• Turn the value of your ticket into a tax-deductible donation. 
• Receive a refund for your ticket. 

Please contact Pamala Mijatov, Director of Audience Services, at boxoffice@ontheboards.org, for information about tickets exchanges or refunds.

We will continue to explore how to best serve the art and the artists who have created this remarkable performance and we will keep you updated as these plans evolve.  

Thu, Mar 19, 8 PM
Fri, Mar 20, 8 PM
Sat, Mar 21, 8 PM
Sun, Mar 22, 5 PM

“Violet was a lot of things, she was wild, uncontainable, uncivilized, selfish, hungry, magnetic, FUCKING FUNNY, charming, creative, inconsiderate, did I say wild?”
- Timothy White Eagle 

Timothy White Eagle’s creative process stems from Indigenous circles as a form of intuitive healing work through transformational rituals. His art and spiritual practice are woven together in his theatrical performances. Commissioned by On the Boards, The Violet Symphony is a rumination on how a society can value the lives of people in active addiction and appreciate them as agents of change who bring new vision into the world.  

The Violet Symphony is the true story of Violet, who died of drug overdose the day after New Year’s fifteen years ago. Violet was a trickster and tricksters move between the worlds of man and spirit. Between wilderness and civilization. Between life and death. Ignoring boundaries, awaiting opportunities, they are liminal creatures, neither this nor that. The Violet Symphony is an imagined swan song she never got to sing.

The Violet Symphony performance will exist in an immersive ritualistic space with different kinds of seating formats with cushions, chairs and other nontraditional seating arrangements. The theater will be completely transformed into the artist's world.

This performance will also include reliquary installations that will remain in the Merrill Lobby for the duration of the performance run. These elements have been funded by the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. 

A Note About Tickets 

Due to The Violet Symphony's specific seating arrangement, advance sales for opening night have ended. The exact capacity will fluctuate from night to night and a limited number of tickets will be available for purchase the night of.

Please feel free to e-mail On the Boards for more information or if you have any questions. Thank you for coming on this journey with us through the ambiguity of creating contemporary performance!

Limited capacity seating. Please email boxoffice@ontheboards.org for more information, or for exchanges or questions.

Please note that this performance deals with themes of drug use, overdose and addiction. If you have further questions, please contact the Director of External Relations, Samie Detzer.

About the Artist 

Timothy White Eagle was born in Tucson, AZ. His mother was White Mountain Apache. He was given up for adoption at birth and raised by a working class white family in Washington state. He graduated from University of Utah with a BFA in Theater. 

White Eagle has worked extensively in the past two and half decades exploring Native American, Pagan, and other earth-based Spiritual practices. In 1995, he began an ongoing mentor/protégé relationship with Shoshone Elder Clyde Hall. In 2006 White Eagle began collaborating with photographer Adrain Chesser. Their work together has been displayed and published nationally and internationally. In 2014, he and Adrain released their book, The Return. He dances at a unique crossroad between art and ritual. 

In 2015, he was the indigenous advisor for Taylor Mac during the creation of A 24-Decade History. In 2016, White Eagle was one of the Dandy Minions in the 24-hour marathon performance of A 24-Decade History performed in New York City and has been on tour nationally and internationally with Taylor Mac as the Artistic Director for the Dandy Minions. 

Commissioned by On the Boards through the 18/19 Artists-in-Residence Program. 

Photo by: Naomi Ishisaka