Playwright explores gentrification in Long Wharf Theatre show
As Long Wharf Theatre says its final goodbyes to Sargent Drive, a California playwright is bringing a story of gentrification and reality television to the stage.
Eliana Pipes’ “Dream Hou$e,” directed by Laurie Woolery, follows two latina sisters, Julia and Patricia Castillo, who inherit their family home when their mother dies. They try to capitilize on the gentrification in their “changing neighborhood” on a reality TV show called “Flip It and List It.”
“The show tests the sisters on what they are willing to sacrifice to get ahead,” Pipes said in an interview.
The play reflects both the way her hometown was changing growing up and moving into the professional world of writing as a woman of color, she said.
“I grew up in a little pocket of LA that was transforming when I was a little kid and it was gentrification. When I was 13, we sold the house and had to move, which was complicated,” she said. “We participated in that gentrification. We left the community, and leaving that place meant cultural loss that I did not understand at the time.”
She started writing at a young age through non-profit programs that went to her schools. She got a master’s degree from Boston University and won the Arizona Theatre Company’s National Latinx Playwright Award in 2020.
As a black, white and Puerto Rican playwright, Pipes said it’s important to see stories like hers on stage.
“I felt like I had to sell my cultural pain for money and I wanted the recognition and this space which cost me something,” she said. “I had ambition and made sacrifices to sort of be in this profession that I love, just to be seen.”
The play highlights the perils of capitalism, reflected by the dollar sign in the play’s name. It’s also an appropriate show to close out Long Wharf’s 57 years in its Sargent Drive location, she said.
Starting in the fall of 2023, following a strategic planning phase, Long Wharf Theatre will present its productions throughout the greater New Haven area and will embedded within the city under the leadership of artistic director Jacob G. Padrón and managing director Kit Ingui, and no longer tied to one space.
“This play is about losing a home, the grief that comes along and opportunities,” Pipes said. “The play meets the moment in a very interesting way with how people are feeling with this change coming to the theater.”
This is Pipes first professional world premiere. It will also be presented at theaters in Atlanta and Baltimore. She said she hopes people leave the theater thinking differently about the spaces they occupy.
“This is a dream come true,” she said.
Dream Hou$e debuted on the Long Wharf stage March 15 and will be there until April 3.