Cast & Creative Team Set for DERECHO World Premiere at La Jolla Playhouse

La Jolla Playhouse has revealed the cast and creative team for its world-premiere production of Derecho, by Noelle Viñas, directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg (Playhouse’s The Garden), running July 23 – August 18 in the Mandell Weiss Forum. 
 
The cast features Ashley Alvarez as Eugenia Silva, Jorge Sánchez Díaz as José Portillo, Caro Guzmán as Mercedes Silva, Eric Hagen as Jeff Randolph, Carla Navarro as Soledad Portillo and Luis Vega as Gabe Diaz, along with understudies Andrew Gallop, Germainne Lebrón and Kat Peña.
 
The creative team includes Tanya Orellana, Scenic Designer; Dominique Fawn Hill, Costume Designer; Sherrice Mojgani, Lighting Designer; Germán Martínez, Sound Designer; Alberto “Albee” Alvarado, Hair and Wig Designer; Zharia O’Neil, Dramaturg; tbd casting co.; Stephanie Yankwitt, CSA/Jacole Kitchen, Casting; Chandra R.M. Anthenill, Stage Manager, and Alexa Burn, Assistant Stage Manager.
 
“It is always incredibly gratifying to mount a full production of a piece from our DNA New Work Series, where Derecho riveted audiences in 2022. Noelle Viñas has crafted a fascinating, thought-provoking piece that taps into so many relevant issues in our country right now,” said Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse.
 
A series of intense storms — a “derecho” — is bearing down on an affluent Virginia neighborhood near D.C., where Eugenia Silva is preparing for a crucial meeting. Eugenia is a politician hoping to join the wave of women of color elected to public office. Her sister Mercedes is a struggling musician fighting to find her way on her own terms. As winds rise and thunder cracks — and tensions between the sisters reach a boiling point — Eugenia’s political ambitions crash into Mercedes’s need to reconnect her sister with their roots. Propulsive and whip-smart, Derecho confronts how traditional Latino values conflict with an ever-changing American definition of success. Will the storm wipe out their relationship and derail Eugenia’s campaign, or will the rains provide a fresh start? This engrossing drama from Uruguayan-American writer Noelle Viñas harnesses the danger of colliding the personal and political to reach your goals. Director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg leads the production, bringing the poetic language and powerful imagery to life.
 
Derecho is the 11th piece to have its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse after development during the annual DNA New Work Series.