THE HALL OF FINAL RUIN Opens in February at Ophelia's Jump

Santa Fe, 1846. The Mexicans are leaving. The Americans are coming. And Death is patiently waiting.

The woman known as La Tules is the "madrina" of Santa Fe. (The Oxford Dictionary defines "madrina" as "godmother.") She is the proprietor of the local gambling den and watering hole. When she plays herself, she uses her own lucky deck and never loses. She resides in her home in Burro Alley, off the grand Santa Fe Plaza, with her two adopted granddaughters and her Indigenous housekeeper.

La Tules is old and attempts to prepare herself for death. She wishes to be buried beneath the floor of her beloved Catholic church, La Parrochia, and have a smooth transition to Purgatory.

Two intruders arrive to disturb her routine: One is a woman who presents herself as a Protestant missionary and teacher. The other is a woman who, sooner than La Tules expected, is a harbinger of Death itself.

La Tules is drawn into a card game where the stakes include a fortune in gold, an opportunity for her to provide for everyone she loves after she passes on, and maybe, just maybe, a chance to enter Heaven. It is the riskiest game of her long life.

The Hall of Final Ruin is a dark comedy with danger, romance, and a touch of the supernatural.

The script is by Kelly McBurnette Andronicos, who refers to herself as "The Gothic Playwright. She states, "Those who share a fascination with the intersection of whimsy and the disturbing, who sense the ties that bind the present to the past, and who elevate the colloquial, the pastoral through their own work, will understand the disjointed planes I try to connect." A graduate of the University of New Mexico, she is the winner of the Southern Playwrights Competition and the Renaissance Theatrerworks Brink Award. Her full-length plays include A Poison Squad of Whispering Women; To Tread Among Serpents; Second Death of a Mad Wife; and The Resurrection of the Publick Universal Friend.

Beatrice Casagran directs. She co-founded Ophelia's Jump Productions in 2012 and is the company's Artistic Director. Her award-winning work as a director includes the productions of The Electric Baby, Tribes, Titus Andronicus, Ruthless! The Musical, Boston Marriage, Clybourne Park, and so many more. She received her MFA from Cal State San Bernardino. Ms. Casagran is the Board Vice President of the Theatrical Producers League of Los Angeles.

The cast of The Hall of Final Ruin includes Cynthia Sophia Alvarez, Jennifer Bobiwash, Candida Celaya, Toni Lynd, Brissa Ramirez and Janette Valenzo.

This production will mark the West Coast Premiere of the play. It had its World Premiere in Tucson in 2019.

Previews Wednesday, February 9 through Friday, February 11 at 8:00 p.m. Opens Saturday, February 12, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. Runs through Sunday, March 13. Regular performances: Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Sunday at 4:00 p.m.

ADMISSION: Previews $20. Thursdays $28. Fridays through Sundays $30. Children (age 10-12) $22.

RESERVATIONS: (909)734-6565.

ONLINE TICKETING: http://opheliasjump.org

To post a comment, you must register and login.