Photo Flash: THIS LAND Tells Multi-Cultural/Generational L.A. story

A deep, painful, joyful story about one extended California family with roots in different parts of the world, who make their home on the same plot of Southern California land over 150 years. Los Angeles native and Mexican-American playwright, Evangeline Ordaz, crafts a rich and complex web of diverse characters from Los Angeles' Latino, African-American, Anglo, and Native American communities who co-exist as if time were a wheel that constantly doubles back on itself. Through triumph and despair these families discover how deeply they are rooted in the dreams of their ancestors and the land on which they stand. Directed by Company of Angels artistic director, Armando Molina, This Land debuts on October 20, at Company of Angels, Los Angeles' oldest professional theater.

A host of old curses and blessings, traditions and recipes, loves and betrayals, conspire to threaten successive displacements. As the story unfolds, each successive generation grapples with their claim to the land on which they live. This Land takes place through the years; 1843, 1848, 1949, 1965, 1992, on what is now a residential street in Watts. "What's so exciting about this play is that it's not your typical history play. The stories are intimate and small yet they seem to whisper a big question so pertinent to Los Angeles today - "Is gentrification just another form of manifest destiny?" comments Artistic Director, Armando Molina.

Richard Azurdia (My Mañana Comes at Fountain Theatre, Backyard at Echo Theater Company, Bill & Joan at SacRed Fools, one of 54 "fascinating Angelenos" profiled by LA Weekly's 2015 People issue) stars as Tomas and Fidel Avila. Niketa Calame (voice of Young Nala in Disney's Animated Feature The Lion King, The Color Purple at Celebration Theater, Ain't Misbehavin at ICT) portrays Leslie Parker/Mel Miller/Pepe, Ian Alda (Lieutenant of Inishmore at Mark Taper Forum, Broadway Bound at La Mirada and Odyssey Theater) takes on the role of Patrick Dalton/James and Dalton Hill, LeShay Tomlinson Boyce (Hellcab and Seven Red Neck Cheerleaders at Elephant Theater Company, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at Mark Taper Forum, Nominated for a NAACP Theater Award for Insurrection Holding History) plays Leola Parker/Sharon Curtis. Jeff Torres (Theatre: Henry IV, Love's Labour's Lost, TV: Criminal Minds, Telenovela) plays Enrique Avila/Ricardo Reyes, Cheryl Umana (Latino Theatre Company, Artists at Play at LATC, Kaiser Educational Theatre) plays Toya/Della, and Johanna McKay (performed in several productions at Circle X, and The Rubicon Theatre) plays Maeve Hilman. Scenic and Lighting Design by Justine Huen, Costume design by Manee Leija, Sound Design by Becca Kessin, and Video Design by Benjamin Durham. Heather McClane is the Assistant Stage Manager/Props and the Production Stage Manager is Daniel Munoz.

Ordaz is a UC Berkeley-trained attorney who practiced public interest law before becoming a full-time playwright and television writer. As an attorney she has practiced immigration, fair housing litigation, criminal appeals, and human rights law both in the United States and Mexico. Ordaz's play This Land was first commissioned by the Center Theater Group which 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 and was the subject of a December 2006 cover story in American Theater Magazine. Borderlands commissioned Visitor's Guide, which also saw production by Teatro Vision in San Jose and Company of Angels Theater in Los Angeles. Company of Angels also produced Ordaz's play Bordering on Love. Evangeline is currently a writer on the Starz drama Vida, the Netflix drama Seven Seconds, and the BET drama In Contempt. She recently completed a film about the underground music scene in East L.A. for Odd Lot Entertainment.

Molina is a director and writer with a background in theater development. His recent directing credits include The Long Road Today by Jose Cruz Gonzalez at South Coast Repertory, Distracted by Lisa Loomer at TheaterWorks, in Palo Alto, California, Visitors Guide to Arivaca by Evangeline Ordaz at Teatro Vision, San Jose, California and Company of Angels. Hippie Mexicana aka Digging Rios by Evangeline Ordaz at Borderlands Theater; Sissy by Ricardo Bracho at Company of Angels in Los Angeles, Anna In The Tropics by Nilo Cruz at PCPA Theaterfest in Santa Maria California; Living Out By Lisa Loomer at TheatreWorks and at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis, The Waiting Room by Lisa Loomer at Company of Angels in Los Angeles, Conjunto by Oliver Mayer at Borderlands Theater Company in Tucson, Arizona, Rocio by Oliver Mayer at King King in Hollywood. Armando received national recognition from the NEA and the Theater Communications Group as a recipient of their Career Development Program for Directors. Before leaving to freelance as a director, Armando was a member of the Cornerstone Theater ensemble. Armando co-founded Latins Anonymous, the critically acclaimed Latino Comedy Group, whose plays were published by Arte Publico Press and continue to be performed nationally.

Founded in 1959 by a group of television and film actors that included Richard Chamberlain, Leonard Nimoy and Vic Morrow, Company of Angels is the oldest professional theater in Los Angeles. As such it has a revised mission to provide a space for the voices and audiences neglected by the major regional theaters.

Company of Angels now produces original work by professional theater artists who reflect the communities that make up the City of Los Angeles and engages residents from low-income communities including Boyle Heights and Skid Row to develop original theater pieces for performance. In this way CoA re-envisions theater to reflect and respond to the richness, diversity, and complexity that is Los Angeles, entertaining new audiences and serving the City of Angels.

Performances of This Land take place Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m., Oct. 20 through Nov. 13. Tickets are $25; seniors $15; and students $12; Monday performances are Pay-What-You-Can. Company of Angels is located at 1350 San Pablo Street, Los Angeles, 90033. For reservations and information, (323) 475-8814 or go to www.companyofangels.org

To post a comment, you must register and login.