Theatreworks explores family, culture, through home renovation play

Quick Facts

  • What: Theatreworks production of “Dream Hou$e” by Eliana Pipes
  • Who: Theatreworks Colorado Springs
  • When: Thursday, February 1 – Sunday, February 18, 2024
    Thur-Sat at 7:30 p.m., Sat at 2 p.m., Sun at 4 p.m.
  • Where: Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater at the Ent Center for the Arts
    5225 N. Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80918
  • How: Visit the Ent Center for the Arts website for tickets and information.
  • Cost: Tickets start at $10 to keep our work accessible to all socio-economic backgrounds,
    prices tier to $44.75.

Is cashing in always selling out? Theatreworks Colorado Springs poses the question with next month’s production of Dream Hou$e by Eliana Pipes: a new play featuring two Latina sisters on an HGTV-style reality show.

After their mother passes, Patricia and Julia turn to the fictional show Flip It and List It (and its bubbly host, Tessa) to help sell their childhood home in a now trendy neighborhood. Soon, their mother’s home comes to represent both the cultural legacy of their past, and potential for a future they’ve only dreamed of. Dream Hou$e blends dark comedy, magical realism, and reality TV tropes for an intimate look at how the homes we live in and the memories they carry shape us all.

Theatreworks’ production features an entirely Colorado-based cast with new and familiar faces: Chelley Canales (Elliot: A Soldier’s Fugue), Katie Medved (The Good Woman of Setzuan, Much Ado About Nothing), and Laura Chavez (new to Theatreworks!). Multi-hyphenate Colorado based theatre artist
GerRee Hinshaw leads the production as director.

Hinshaw imagines a wide variety of audiences finding themselves in the show: “I picture myself sitting in the audience with my own sister and how much fun we would have just watching these two sisters do their sister thing, watching that coded language and how they can kind of rattle each other’s cages really quickly, but also have each other’s backs in a way that only sisters can. I think anyone who’s got a story of family attachment to a home, anyone who understands the ways that these sisters relate to their home and the way the home then also relates to them, anyone who has any kind of relationship to a place that speaks to them of their family heritage would really resonate with this show.”

The creative team includes David Castellano (costume and scenic design), Jennifer Fok (lighting design), Patrice Mondragon (sound design), Elle O’Sullivan (props design), Marisa Hébert (associate director), Garth Moritz (stage manager), and Skylar Campbell (assistant stage manager).

Tickets to Dream Hou$e can be purchased online at entcenterforthearts.org or by phone at 719-255- 8181. Performances begin Thursday, February 1 and continue through Sunday, February 18, 2024. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. Saturday matinee, and a 4:00 p.m. Sunday matinee.

UCCS students are always free, and discounts are available for educators, military, and youth tickets.

Associated Events

Join us before Thursday performances at 6:45 p.m. for Director, Designer, and Scholar Chats about the show. Hear from the Actors during talkbacks after the performance on Sunday, February 11.

Are you an educator with interest in bringing classes to the performance? Reach out to the box office for information about our Morning Matinee performances, with discounted rates for student groups.

About Theatreworks Colorado Springs

Theatreworks Colorado Springs connects, empowers, and delights our communities through diverse performances and educational experiences that are mirrors for ourselves and windows into others. We create in service to our audiences, our staff and artists, the UCCS students and community, and the people of Southern Colorado to envision a better world.

Founded in 1975 by artistic director Murray Ross, costume designer Betty Ross, and an ensemble of passionate artists, today the program is led by artistic director, Caitlin Lowans, who was appointed in 2018 – the same year the Ent Center of the Arts opened its doors to the community. Caitlin brings a passion for community-engaged work that celebrates the diversity of human experience. entcenterforthearts.org/theatreworks

About the Ent Center for the Arts

This first-class arts facility, located on the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus serves the community as a hub for the arts and an inspiration in academics. The vision for the facility was and is to foster a creative environment to house arts that will serve the Pikes Peak region, allowing artists to inspire and amplify one another rather than compete against one another. Art brings together diverse peoples and ideas in ways no other discipline can, and the Ent Center will be a pillar of the arts community within Colorado Springs.
entcenterforthearts.org