The rise of gentrification in urban areas has left many families in crisis, often unable to live in their own neighborhoods. A new play at the Alliance Theatre addresses this issue, brought to us by the Alliance’s Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition winner Eliana Pipes. “Dream Hou$e” follows the lives of two Latina sisters deciding whether to sell their home, grappling with the cultural costs of America’s conventional notions of progress. Pipes joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom along with actor Darilyn Castillo, who portrays Julia.
Interview highlights:
The tangle of personal history and broader cultural narratives inspiring “Dream Hou$e:”
“I grew up in a little pocket of Los Angeles that was really transforming because of arts-led gentrification, and when I was 13, my family moved,” recounted Pipes. “We sold our house, which means that we sort of participated in that process of gentrification. And on the one hand, that move was really great for my family. It brought a lot of resources into our life, but on the other hand, that move meant a kind of cultural loss that I didn’t really have the vocabulary to understand at the time, as a little kid.” She continued, “Writing this play was really a way for me to sort of sort through the benefits and the losses and the wins and the gains, but also the sacrifices that came with leaving that community.”
“As a woman of color, I’m Black, white, and Puerto Rican, especially writing Black and Latino stories when sometimes theaters haven’t done the work to get those populations into the audience. I sort of felt like I was being asked to sell my cultural pain for money. And I wanted the money. I wanted the access I wanted to be in those spaces,” said Pipes. “Grappling with that ambition and what it costs me to pursue this industry that I love so much… all of that complicated, tangled mess ended up in the play.”
