MOJADA: A MEDEA IN LOS ANGELES to be Presented at Yale Repertory Theatre in March

Yale Repertory Theatre will start the second half of its 2022-23 season with Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles by Luis Alfaro, directed by Laurie Woolery, March 10-April 1 at the University Theatre (222 York Street). Opening Night is Thursday, March 16, which is also press night.

The production features scenic design by Marcelo Martínez García, costumes by Kitty Cassetti, lighting by Stephen Strawbridge, sound design by Bryn Scharenberg, projection design by Shawn Lovell-Boyle, production dramaturgy by Sebastián Eddowes-Vargas and Nicholas Orvis, technical direction by Andrew Riedemann, vocal and dialect coaching by Cynthia Santos DeCure, fight and intimacy direction by Kelsey Rainwater, casting by Calleri Jensen Davis, and stage management by Aisling Galvin.

The cast of Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles includes Romar Fernandez, Alejandro Hernández, Alma Martinez, Camila Moreno, Nancy Rodriguez, and Mónica Sánchez.

Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts' Office of Public Affairs.

More About Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles

Medea, a Mexican seamstress of extraordinary skill, barely survived the perilous border crossing into the United States and lives uneasily in a borrowed Los Angeles house with her husband Hason and their young son Acan: the tension between their traditional values and assimilation is a matter of life and death. Blending wry humor, tragedy, and mysticism, Mojada unleashes the power of Euripides' ancient tale through an unforgettable story of an undocumented family caught in the grip of the American immigration system.

Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles is Yale Rep's 2022-23 Will Power! production. Yale Rep's annual education initiative includes three morning matinee performances of Mojada for high school students from New Haven Public Schools, entirely free of charge. For more information on the program, please contact Senior Artistic Producer Amy Boratko at amy.boratko@yale.edu.

Will Power! is supported by Esme Usdan and the NewAlliance Foundation.

Attendance Policies, Ticket Information, and Performance Calendar

Yale Rep productions are open to asymptomatic audiences with up-to-date COVID-19 vaccination and boosters. All patrons must wear masks at all times while inside the theater except when eating or drinking.

How to Purchase Tickets

Tickets are $15 and $25 (all previews), $15 and $45 (weeknights), and $15 and $65 (weekends and matinees). Student tickets are $15 for all performances. Tickets are available online at yalerep.org, by calling (203) 432-1234, and in person at the Yale Rep Box Office (1120 Chapel Street).

Friday, March 10 8PM Preview
Saturday, March 11 8PM Preview
Monday, March 13 8PM Preview
Tuesday, March 14 8PM Preview
Wednesday, March 15 8PM Preview
Thursday, March 16 8PM Opening Night
Friday, March 17 8PM
Saturday, March 18 2PM
Saturday, March 18 8PM
Tuesday, March 21 8PM
Wednesday, March 22 2PM Pre-performance Discussion
Wednesday, March 22 8PM
Thursday, March 23 8PM
Friday, March 24 8PM
Saturday, March 25 2PM Audio Description; post-show Talk Back
Saturday, March 25 8PM
Thursday, March 30 8PM
Friday, March 31 8PM
Saturday, April 1 2PM Open Captioning
Saturday, April 1 8PM

Yale Rep at NHPFL
Members of Yale Rep's artistic staff and/or the creative team of the production will speak about the show at two New Haven Free Public Library branches:

Tuesday, March 7, from 6-7:30PM at Wilson Library (303 Washington Avenue)
Thursday, March 9, from 5:30-7PM at Fair Haven Library (182 Grand Avenue)

For more information, visit the Events Calendar at nhfpl.org.

The Creative Team

Luis Alfaro

(Playwright) is a Chicano playwright born and raised in downtown Los Angeles. He is also an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California. He has received fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; United States Artists; Ford Foundation Art of Change; Joyce Foundation; Mellon Foundation and is the recipient of the PEN America/Laura Pels International Foundation Theater Award for a Master Dramatist. He was the inaugural Playwright-in-Residence for six seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (2013-2019); Playwright's Ensemble at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theatre (2013-2020); Inaugural Latinx Playwrights at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (2021); and Ojai Playwrights Conference member since 2002. His plays include Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, and Mojada and have been seen at regional theaters throughout the United States and Europe. Luis spent two decades in the Los Angeles Poetry and Performance Art communities.

Laurie Woolery

(Director) is a director, playwright, community activist, and citizen artist, who has worked at theaters across the country including The Public Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, New York City Center/Encores! Off Center, Trinity Repertory, Goodman Theatre, Kennedy Center, Cornerstone Theater Company, South Coast Repertory, and Yale Rep, where she has directed Manahatta, El Huracán, and Imogen Says Nothing. She is the Director of Public Works at The Public Theater, where her musical adaptation of As You Like It was named one of "The Best Theater of 2017" by The New York Times and returned last summer to Free Shakespeare in the Park. Laurie also directed the rolling world premiere of Eliana Pipes's Dream Hou$e at the Alliance Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, and Baltimore Center Stage. She produced the documentary Under the Greenwood Tree and curated the national public art project The Seed Project. Laurie has developed new work with diverse communities ranging from incarcerated women to residents of a Kansas town devastated by a tornado. She creates site-specific work that ranges from a working sawmill in Eureka to the banks of the Los Angeles River. Laurie is a founding member of The Sol Project and a proud recipient of the Fuller Road Fellowship for Women Directors of Color. Laurie is a 2020 United States Artist recipient, 2021 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities and the 2022 Person of the Year Award for The National Theatre Conference.

Marcelo Martínez García

he/him/el (Scenic Designer) is a proud Mexican scenic designer and architect. His recent credits include Love's Labor's Lost and Bodas de sangre (David Geffen School of Drama); BURNBABYBURN: an american dream (Yale Summer Cabaret); L'Orfeo (Yale Baroque Opera); Dragaret '22, Radiant Vermin, Let's Go to the Moon, and littleboy/littleman (Yale Cabaret). Marcelo holds a degree in architecture from ITESM MTY, a specialization in scenic design from CENTRO CDMX, and is currently in his final year pursuing an M.F.A. in theater design at the Geffen School. Upcoming works include Torera (Alley Theater, Houston) and La Doriclea (Yale Baroque Opera). More at marcelomg.com | @marcelomgdesigns

Kitty Cassetti

she/her/hers (Costume Designer) is a fourth-year M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama, where her credits include Romeo and Juliet and Manning. Costume design credits include BURNBABYBURN: an american dream (Yale Summer Cabaret); In Between Bitches, Maggie and Iris (Yale Cabaret); and To Be Swallowed Whole (Hampshire College Productions). Assistant design credits include The Notebook: A New Musical (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Celebrating the Black Radical Imagination: Nine Solo Shows (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Endlings (ART); Alice and Mr. Burns, a post-electric Play (David Geffen School of Drama). Kitty holds a B.A. from Hampshire College.

Stephen Strawbridge

(Lighting Designer) has designed more than 200 productions on and off Broadway and at most leading regional theaters and opera houses across the U.S. Internationally he has helped create major premieres in Bergen, Copenhagen, The Hague, Hong Kong, Linz, Lisbon, Munich, Naples, São Paulo, Stockholm, Stratford-Upon-Avon (for the Royal Shakespeare Company), Wrocław, and Vienna. Artistic collaborators have included such notable directors and choreographers as Robert Brustein, James Bundy, Martha Clarke, Graciela Daniele, Barry Edelstein, Richard Foreman, Athol Fugard, Loretta Greco, Mark Lamos, Emily Mann, Kathleen Marshall, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Diane Paulus, Erica Schmidt, Bartlett Sher, Rebecca Taichman, John Tillinger, Robert Wilson, Mark Wing-Davey, and Robert Woodruff. He has numerous pieces in the repertories of Pilobolus Dance Theatre and Alison Chase/Performance. Recent credits include King Lear with Joe Morton at Wallis Annenberg Center in Los Angeles and Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream at The Old Globe in San Diego. He has been recognized with numerous awards and nominations including the American Theatre Wing, Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, Connecticut Critics Circle, Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum, Drama Desk, Helen Hayes, Henry Hewes Design, and Lucille Lortel. He is head of the lighting design concentration at David Geffen School of Drama and Lighting Advisor for Yale Rep.

Bryn Scharenberg

(Sound Designer) is a fourth-year M.F.A. candidate in sound design, where her credits include Ghosts and Affinity. She grew up in Seattle, where the sound of rain is near-constant. This is likely when her obsession with the melodramatic began. She received a B.S. in music and technology from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and her professional credits include a mix of designing, assistant designing, and engineering for Pittsburgh Musical Theater, Front Porch Theatricals, the New Ohio Theatre, and Yale Cabaret, among others. brynscharenberg.org

Shawn Lovell-Boyle (Projection Design) has designed projections for theater, dance, music, installation, and themed entertainment across the United States and internationally. Organizations include Atlantic Theater Company, Tulsa Ballet, Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, Denver Center, Lagoon Park, the Alliance Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Goodspeed Opera House, Berkshire Theater Group, and Ogunquit Playhouse. Broadway: Paradise Square. Previous credits with Yale Repertory Theatre: peerless and Elevada (Connecticut Critics Circle Award). Shawn is a member of United Scenic Artists Projection & Lighting. B.F.A.: Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts; M.F.A.: David Geffen School of Drama; Faculty: David Geffen School of Drama.

Sebastían Eddowes-Vargas

(Production Dramaturg) is a Peruvian theater artist and researcher, who focuses on queer stories and how these are shaped by the colonial histories of the Americas. He is author of several award-winning plays, including El Rancho De Los Niños Perdidos, Una Historia De (Poli)Amor, Debut (with Caro Black Tam), Nunca Estaremos En Broadway (with Rodrigo Yllaric), Hasta Que Choque El Hueso (with Mario Zanatta), and Can The Peruvian Speak? As dramaturg, he worked on Expats Anonymous by Rachel Chin, directed by Alex Keegan (Yale Cabaret); Exposed by Laura Goodenow (Real Women Make Waves); and Between Two Knees by The 1491s, directed by Eric Ting (Yale Repertory Theatre). He is currently an M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama.

Nicholas Orvis

he/him (Production Dramaturg) is a dramaturg, critic, and director in his final year at David Geffen School of Drama. His work at Yale includes Green Suga Bloos and Almost (Nearly) f-ing Finally (Geffen School); Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Yale Repertory Theatre); The Hedgehog's Dilemma (Yale Cabaret); and the father, the son, and the holy spirit (Yale Summer Cabaret). Prior to beginning at the Geffen School, Nick was the Literary Associate for Premiere Stages at Kean University, where he helped develop new plays by writers including Deborah Brevoort, Nicole Pandolfo, Keith Josef Adkins, and Tammy Ryan. Nick is a former managing editor of Theater magazine and a co-creator and producer of the ongoing Dungeons + Drama Nerds, a podcast exploring the intersections between theater and tabletop roleplaying games.

Andrew Riedemann

(Technical Director) is a fourth-year M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama. He has served as assistant technical director for Next to Normal at the Geffen School, as well as for Choir Boy and Manahatta at Yale Rep. Prior to the Geffen School, Andrew was the Technical Instructor of the Scene Shop at New York University in Abu Dhabi for four years. He would like to thank the technical direction team and the Geffen School staff for all the work that has been put into this show. Andrew would also like to thank his parents and his partner Mia for all their love and support.

Cynthia Santos DeCure

she/her/ella (Vocal and Dialect Coach) is an actor, voice, and dialect coach. She is an Associate Professor of Acting at David Geffen School of Drama, certified in both Knight-Thompson Speechwork® and as Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework®, specializing in accents, dialects, and culturally inclusive pedagogies. Some dialect credits: Laughs in Spanish (Denver Center); Queen of Basel (TheaterWorks Hartford); Cymbeline (New York Classical Theatre); Quixote Nuevo (Denver Center, Round House Theatre); Scenes with Cranes (REDCAT); Today is My Birthday, El Huracán (Yale Rep); In the Heights (Phoenix Theater, Chance Theater); The Long Road Today (South Coast Rep); Orange is the New Black (Netflix); and The Affair (Showtime). Member of SAG/AFTRA, AEA. She is co-editor, Scenes for Latinx Actors, and Latinx Actor Training (Routledge 2023).

Kelsey Rainwater

(Fight and Intimacy Director) is an intimacy coach, fight director, and actress based out of the ancestral lands of the Quinnipiac people. Kelsey's most recent work was seen in the premiere of Sally and Tom at The Guthrie. Some of her other credits include In the Southern Breeze at Rattlestick, The Public Theater's Measure for Measure and White Noise by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Oskar Eustis; A Raisin in the Sun (canceled due to COVID) and Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Yale Rep; Blues for An Alabama Sky with the Keen Company; and Bess Wohl's film, Baby Ruby. She is a Lecturer in Acting at David Geffen School of Drama, co-teaching stage combat and intimacy, and is a Resident Fight and Intimacy Director for Yale Rep.

Calleri Jensen Davis

(Casting Director) is a creative casting partnership between James Calleri, Erica Jensen, and Paul Davis of over 20 years. They are thrilled to begin this collaboration with Yale Rep. Broadway credits: The Piano Lesson, Topdog/Underdog, For Colored Girls.., Thoughts of a Colored Man, Burn This, Fool for Love, The Elephant Man, Hedwig and The Angry Inch, Of Mice and Men, Venus in Fur, A Raisin in the Sun, 33 Variations. Television: "Love Life," "Queens," "Dickinson," and "The Path," to name a few. callerijensendavis.com

Aisling Galvin

(Stage Manager) is a fourth-year M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama. Previous credits include Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Yale Rep and Affinity at the Geffen School.

The Cast

Romar Fernandez

(Acan) is an energetic and dedicated 10-year-old young man. His passion for acting began three years ago. Romar's most recent project was playing "Young Mondo" in the upcoming comedy series Primo, premiering May 2023. Romar is very excited to be working on this project at Yale Repertory Theatre. His acting goals as a young actor consist of starring in a major motion picture and working as a network series regular. The sky's the limit for Romar!

Alejandro Hernández

(Hason) Theater: Between Riverside and Crazy (Pittsburgh Public Theater); Peter and the Starcatcher, Wondrous Strange (Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival); The First Immigrant, Orpheus in the Berkshires (Williamstown Theatre Festival); El Hurácan (workshop) at MCC. Television/film: The Horror of Dolores Roach (Amazon Prime Video, summer 2023); New Amsterdam, Law & Order: SVU (NBC); Partner Track, Set It Up, Monster (Netflix); Instinct, FBI, Elementary, Madame Secretary (CBS). Training: B.F.A., Montclair State University; Professional Training Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville; Lucid Body House with Fay Simpson.

Alma Martinez

(Tita) This production marks Ms. Martinez's debut at Yale Repertory Theatre. Broadway: In the Summer House. Off-Broadway: Green Card. Regional: El Teatro Campesino, Mark Taper Forum, Oregon Shakes, Santa Cruz Shakes, Berkeley Repertory, San Jose Repertory, Repertory Theatre of Saint Louis, San Diego Repertory, Arizona Theatre Company, Denver Theatre Center, San Antonio Fiesta Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Asolo Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Long Beach Civic Light Opera, Pennsylvania Stage, Marin Theatre Company, Sundance Theatre Lab. Television: Undone, Bosch: Legacy, I Love Dick (Amazon); The Terror Infamy (AMC); Gentrified (Netflix), The Bridge (F/X, Peabody Award Season 1); Corridos: Tales of Passion and Revolution (PBS, Peabody Award); Queen Sugar (OWN/WB); Last Man On Earth (Fox-TV); Good Behavior (TNT); Dating Game Killer (Discovery); The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (F/X); Strange Angel, MacGyver, The Unit, Nash Bridges (CBS); Elena of Avalor (Disney); 500 Nations (Warner-Netflix); Grey's Anatomy (ABC). Film: Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zoot Suit, Born in East LA, Under Fire, Barbarosa, Find My Daughter, The Darkness, Transpecos, Greater Glory, Maria's Story, Panama Deception, Crossing Over, Answer to My Prayers, Only in Dreams, Family Cena, Tyger Tyger, Cake, Ms. Purple, and Clemency (winner, 2019 Sundance Grand Jury Award). Training: Ph.D. directing and dramatic criticism, Stanford University; M.F.A., acting, USC; B.A., theater, Whittier College. Additional training; Lee Strasberg, Jerzi Grotowski, Ariane Mnouchkine, Augusto Boal, Luis Valdez, Patsy Rodenburg, RADA, and Centro Universitario de Teatro (CUT), University of Mexico. Membership: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Actor's Branch; Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Actor's Branch; AEA; SAG AFTRA; SDC; and ANDA (Mexican Actors' Union). A published author, her current article will appear in the upcoming anthology print-book Latinx Acting, Routledge Press, due spring 2023. Dr. Martinez is an Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of La Verne, La Verne, California.

Camila Moreno

(Medea) A fresh new face in the entertainment industry, actress Camila Moreno, has quickly positioned herself as a one-to-watch. Last year, Moreno was seen in her first professional role as a series regular in Ava DuVernay's highly anticipated superhero series Naomi for The CW. Moreno is a native of Puerto Rico, where she grew up attending a bi-lingual school focusing on math and science. Knowing at a young age that she needed a creative outlet, Moreno became active in any and all extracurriculars, including art, writing, the forensics league in English and Spanish, and helped put together the school's literary magazine. Following high school, Moreno went to the University of Puerto Rico where she majored in Acting under their Drama Department. There she won the Victoria Espinosa Award, for best actress of her graduating class. She received her M.F.A. from NYU's Graduate Acting Program, where she had the opportunity to play characters such as Irina in The Three Sisters, Mayannah in Brainpeople, Cordelia in King Lear, and Ophelia in Hamlet. When Moreno is not on set or on stage, you can find her in the studio creating mosaics; participating in health and wellness activities such as fitness, skin care, and journaling; and exploring the world of fashion. However, her first and foremost passion is acting, taking every opportunity to home in on her craft. Moreno currently splits her time between New York and Puerto Rico.

Nancy Rodriguez

(Josefina) Broadway: The Great Society, Cymbeline. Off Broadway: The Public Theater, Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, INTAR, Irondale Ensemble. Regional: ten seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, American Players Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Two River Theater, Shakespeare Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Studio Theatre. Film: Detachment, Indigo, Into Me See, Cricket Head. Television: FBI: Most Wanted, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Special Victims Unit, Mercy, One Life to Live. Audio: Play On Shakespeare Podcast: Coriolanus. Awards: HOLA Award for Outstanding Ensemble.

Mónica Sánchez

(Armina) Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles marks the East Coast debut for actor/playwright Mónica Sánchez. Originally from New Mexico, she has worked extensively on the West Coast with (among others) El Teatro Campesino, Playwrights Arena, Strasberg Center, Cornerstone, South Coast Rep, Magic Theatre, Campo Santo, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Eureka Theatre Co., Asian American Theatre Center, Thick Description, Latino Theatre Co., and San Diego Rep, where she last appeared as Jocasta in Luis Alfaro's Oedipus El Rey. Television and film credits include House of Cards, Big Sky, Walker Independence, Primo; Trigger Warning, When You Finish Saving the World, and Julie Taymor's biopic on the remarkable life and work of Gloria Steinem, The Glorias: My Life on the Road, in which she portrayed the indefatigable social justice warrior, Dolores Huerta. She is elated and grateful to be part of this production with longtime and newfound collaborators. dramatista.com

About Yale Repertory Theatre

Yale Repertory Theatre, the internationally celebrated professional theatre in residence at David Geffen School of Drama, has championed new work since 1966, producing well over 100 premieres-including two Pulitzer Prize winners and four other nominated finalists-by emerging and established playwrights. Seventeen Yale Rep productions have advanced to Broadway, garnering more than 40 Tony Award nominations and ten Tony Awards. Yale Rep is also the recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Established in 2008, Yale's Binger Center for New Theatre has distinguished itself as one of the nation's most robust and innovative new play programs. To date, the Binger Center has supported the work of more than 60 commissioned artists and underwritten the world premieres and subsequent productions of more than 30 new plays and musicals at Yale Rep and theaters across the country.

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