THIS LAND
Written by Evangeline Ordaz
Directed by Armando Molina
Featuring
JEFF TORRES, IAN ALDA, CHERYL UMAÑA BONILLA,
LeSHAY TOMLINSON, JOHANNA McKAY,
NIKETA CALAME, RICHARD AZURDIA
Oct 20 - Nov 20, 2017
This Land spans over 150 years, four families with ancestry in different parts of the world make their home on one particular plot of Southern California land now known as Watts. A host of old curses and blessings, traditions and recipes, loves and betrayals travel down family lines from the 19th to the 21st century, forcing each successive generation to ask in times of hardship, “Should I stay or should I go?” Los Angeles native Evangeline Ordaz crafts a rich and complex web of diverse characters who through triumph and despair discover how deeply they are rooted in the dreams of their ancestors and the land on which they stand.
general information
DATES
October 20 - November 20, 2017
TICKETS
Company of Angels is a neighborhood theater — and our neighbors are always welcome, regardless of their capacities to pay. That's why we offer Pay-What-You-Can tickets for Boyle Heights, Ramona Gardens, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, and City Terrance neighborhood residents at every performance. If you're a resident one of these neighborhoods, you can visit our theater, starting 30 minutes prior to any performance, and request a Community Ticket. No neighbor will be turned away for lack of funds.
GROUPS
Groups of 10 or more receive discounted tickets and other benefits depending on the performance date and availability.
VENUE INFO
THIS LAND will take place at Company of Angels at Legacy L.A located at 1380 San Pablo St, Los Angeles, CA 90033
For directions or parking information, click here.
GET YOUR playmaker halo
Donate $20 or more when you purchase a ticket and get your Playmaker Halo. Ticket sales only cover a third of actual production costs. Playmakers help make strong performances possible by helping to cover the real cost of a play.
ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES
Audio Described Performance: October 27th at 8:00 PM
ASL-Interpreted Performance: November 6 at 3:00 PM
SCHOOL MATINEES
Please contact to reserve group tickets.
cast
IAN ALDA*
RICHARD AZURDIA*
CHERYL UMAÑA BONILLA*
NIKETA CALAME*
JOHANNA McKay*
LeSHAY TOMLINSON*
JEFF TORRES*
* DENOTES MEMBER OF ACTORS EQUITY
PRODUCTION TEAM
EVANGELINE ORDAZ
playwright
becca kessin
sound design
tamadhur al-aqeel
producer
armando molina
director
danny muñoz
stage manager
susan gordan
publicist
justin huen
scenic & lighting design
heather mclane
assistant stage manager
diana romo
group sales
manee leija
costume design
benajmin durham
video design
anne brashier
video promotion
photos
photos by grettel cortes photography
in the news
"RECOMMENDED...playwright Evangeline Ordaz has written a satisfying piece of AMERICAN EPIC THEATRE."
- Stage Raw
"...the TIMELESSNESS OF GOOD STORYTELLING to create a wonderful emotional and educational journey into the ecosystem of Los Angeles and helps us realize how we all are connected to each other and our land."
- USC Annenberg Media
"...World Premiere Drama This Land, WAS MADE FOR YOU AND ME!"
"WOW! TWO ABSORBING AND ILLUMINATING HOURS of Los Angeles theater at its best..."
- Stage Scene LA
"Part of the pleasure is watching the actors' agility in switching rapidly back and forth between the characters they play, and seeing a lovingly prepared dish handed off between time frames."
"It's a GLORIOUS PIECE OF THEATRE and these two artists are well-worth watching while we educate ourselves from their message."
"What began as a commission by Center Theatre Group for Mexican-American playwright, Evangeline Ordaz, to write about the changing demographics of Los Angeles has morphed into a play that's POWERFUL AND COMPELLING."
-Tin Pan L.A.
"...the story pulsed with a TRANSLUCENT BEAUTY, told in overlapping and simultaneous scenes with the past, present and future meeting and blending and curling through and around each other as if strands woven deftly by gentle unseen hands into a shimmering cosmic braid."
- Brooklyn & Boyle
meet the playwright
A native of East Los Angeles, Evangeline is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant father and Chicana mother. Evangeline is a UC Berkeley trained attorney who practiced public interest law before becoming a full time playwright and screenwriter. As an attorney she practiced immigration law, slum-housing litigation, criminal appeals, and human rights law both in the United States and Mexico. Evangeline’s play This Land was commissioned by The Center Theater Group (Mark Taper Forum/Kirk Douglas Theater/Ahmanson Theater) and further developed at the Hedgebrook Women's Playwrights Festival. Center Theater Group produced a public reading in February 2015. Her play Visitors’ Guide to Arivaca was featured at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ New Play Summit. Visitor’s Guide, also saw production by Teatro Vision in San Jose and Company of Angels Theater in Los Angeles. Company of Angels also produced Evangeline’s play Bordering on Love, which she wrote while a member of the Center Theater Group’s playwrights’ workshop. Borderlands Theater in Tucson produced Evangeline’s play Hippie Mexicana and commissioned Visitors’ Guide to Arivaca. Evangeline is currently a writer on the Starz dramedy Vida and the Netflix drama Seven Seconds. Other recent credits include writer on the BET drama In Contempt, writer/producer of the first season of East Los High (Hulu), and writer of the feature film Chiclets (Odd Lot Entertainment), which is set in East L.A.’s underground music scene. Evangeline was an ABC Disney Writing Fellow and a staff writer on the ABC television series EYES.
media
This production is made possible by in part by the California Community Foundation, Eastside Arts Initiative, Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the generous contributions of Company of Angels supporters and contributors.


