DOUBLe feature:
The Prairie and la frontera (2019)
“Trade Privileges”
written by David Blakely; directed by Michael Wright
Heller Theatre Company’s Playwright-in-Residence and winner of both Outstanding Direction at the 2018 TATEs and Outstanding Original Play at the last two ceremonies, David Blakely presents his latest world premiere one-act. "Trade Privileges" examines race relations among whites, Indians and freed former slaves in Indian Territory in 1859. Though historical, the story is a personal one, and the societal conflicts remain timely.
“Niñas de la Tierra”
written and directed by Shadia Dahlal
¡Viva la vida! Life is magic. But for immigrants who choose to cross our southern border seeking a better life, the path is filled with danger from humans, and sometimes from supernatural spirits. “Ninas de la Tierra” is a modern Mexican folktale of struggle, survival and magical realism along la frontera.
Photos by C. Andrew Nichols.
Content Warning: Some of the following images depict fictionalized violence, including racist police violence against a woman of color, simulated sexual violence, and the forced separation of a child from her mother at the US-Mexico border.
A Note on the Casting: Heller Theatre Company has upheld white fragility and supremacy in the American theatre, in part through the casting on white actors in the roles of non-white characters. That is the case with some of the roles in “Niñas de la Tierra.” This is an act of erasure and exclusion and de-centers BIPOC voices; it was not acceptable then, and it is not acceptable now. To find more information and read the list of demands from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) theatre-makers, visit www.weseeyouWAT.com. To see what actionable steps Heller is taking to create and maintain a safe, equitable space for BIPOC theatremakers, click here.
