OCPA Presents THROUGH TEARS COME I At The Chance Theater

The Orange County Playwrights Alliance kicks off its 2018 reading series at the Chance Theater on March 10 with a new drama from Anaheim playwright Erica Bennett. Through Tears Come I connects contemporary Southern California life with Southern California history in a stirring and bold new work, directed by Angela Cruz and featuring Margarita Delia Martinez Florez, Zoe Gavina, Talia Goodman, Joseph McKinney, Taylor Preminger, Lisa Renee and David Edward Reyes.

About the Play
Katrina Christensen-Herrera, a young, White, wickedly intelligent newlywed, is a library school student assigned a final project in her archival studies class: find a Latin or Hispanic archive, and create something. Katrina has a visceral reaction - the hair raises on the back of her neck - when she reads photocopied court transcripts from a 1945 Orange County desegregation case that revolved around nine-year-old Yadira Flores, a dark-skinned American citizen of Mexican-American descent. In the process of her research and discovery, Katrina confronts a long-forgotten personal trauma that nearly destroyed her family when she was nine years old.

About the Playwright
Erica Bennett's recently produced plays in Orange County include Bender (OC-centric New Play Festival) and Love, Divine (New Voices Playwrights Theatre). A Waffle Doesn't Cure Insomnia was selected for publication in The Best American Short Plays 2011-2012. Erica has a B.A. in Theater Arts from California State University, Fullerton, and a Master of Library & Information Science degree from UCLA with an emphasis in Archival Studies. As an actor, she studied with Donn Finn, Jose Quintero, Stella Adler and Arthur Mendoza and was featured in Benicio Del Toro's short film Submission with Matthew McConaughey and Valeria Golino. She worked for nearly ten years in network television as a writer's and development assistant on The Young Riders, Gabriel's Fire, Under Suspicion, and The Big Easy. She is an Associate Member of the Dramatists Guild.

About the Chance Theater
Proud to be one of the leading ensemble-driven theatre companies in Southern California, CHANCE THEATER recently received a National Theatre Company grant from American Theatre Wing. The Chance has won six Ovation Awards, including two for Best Production of a Musical - Intimate Theater for its West Coast premiere of Triassic Parq - The Musical and Southern California premiere of Jerry Springer - The Opera, as well as four LADCC Awards, including the Polly Warfield Award for Outstanding Season. The Anaheim City Council named Chance Theater "the official resident theater company of Anaheim", and Arts Orange County has twice named the Chance as "Outstanding Arts Organization". Known for using bold and personal storytelling to promote dialogue and connection within the Southern California theatrical landscape, the Chance is committed to contributing to a more compassionate, connected and creative community. As a constituent member of Theatre Communications Group, Network of Ensemble Theaters, and the LA Stage Alliance, Chance Theater continues to bring national attention to the Southern California and Orange County theater scenes. For more information, visit www.ChanceTheater.com.

MORE INFO: 714.902.5716 | ocplaywrights.org

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