Luz Lorenzana Twigg
Luz Lorenzana Twigg is a playwright, dramaturg, doula, and folk herbalist. Her practice explores diasporic identity, ritual, theatre as a living archive, as well as ancestral healing as the gateway for reimagined theatrical pedagogy and praxis.
Additional support: Williamstown Theatre Festival (2024) Fresh Ground Pepper (2024), MacDowell (2023), Dean’s Grant at Columbia University (2021). Her plays include The Whale and The Redwood; The Trouble With Paradise (Semi-Finalist, O’Neill 2024); Electra (Semi-Finalist, O’Neill 2022), which has received support from the Stavros Niarchos Institute for Public Humanities and the SheLA Summer Theatre Festival, and Platinum Record (MaArte Theatre Collective). She is published in Decentered Playwriting, a teaching volume of decolonial playwriting techniques from Routledge Press. MFA in Playwriting: Columbia University, David Henry Hwang, and Lynn Nottage.
During her time with Hi-ARTS, Luz will continue the development of an adaptation of the lost American classic, America is in the Heart.
About America is in the Heart
America is in the Heart is an adaptation of what is considered to be the first novel, of the same name, that depicts the Filipino-American experience, written by Carlos Bulosan and published in 1946. Adapted for performance, America is in the Heart will serve as a means of building solidarity across class, age and race; shedding light on how forgotten ancestors contributed to and built the labor movement in 1930s California while asking, “how can we follow in their footsteps?”
“Our residency will focus on reworking our text to build a highly mobile, immersive apartment-style piece that both invites audience members to learn from Filipino-American labor history and rehearses Democracy through participation and newfound solidarity.”
Luz Lorenzana Twigg
Image Credit: Jonathan Barbee
Programming
Digging Deeper
Supplemental Materials for America is in the Heart.
America is in the Heart, Carlos Bulosan
First published in 1943, this classic memoir by well-known Filipino poet Carlos Bulosan describes his boyhood in the Philippines, his voyage to America, and his years of hardship and despair as an itinerant laborer following the harvest trail in the rural West.
Little Manila: Filipinos in California's Heartland - KVIE
Filled with chop suey houses, gambling dens, and dance halls, Little Manila was the area in Stockton notoriously called, Skid Row, but it was also the closest thing Filipinos had to a hometown. In its heyday in the 30s, this lively area had the largest population of Filipinos outside of the Philippines. Narrated by famed Filipino-American producer, Dean Devlin (Independence Day, The Patriot) this documentary tells the immigrant story as Filipinos experienced it.
Creative Team
Luz Lorenzana Twigg
Lead Artist & Playwright
Dani Jeannette Draper
Lighting Designer
Dani Jeannette Draper (she/her) is a New York City based lighting designer originally from Santa Barbara, California. Dani’s passion for lighting comes from her background in aerial dance. Her work has taken her around the globe to theater festivals in North Macedonia, Armenia, and Georgia. Some of Dani’s previous credits include Angels In America Millennium Approaches (Tony Kushner), Top Girls (Caryl Churchill), and Trouble In Paradise (Luz Lorenzana Twigg). Dani holds an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and a BA in Theater Arts from Westmont College.
danijdraper.com | ani.jeannette.draper
Yari Cervas
Director & Dramaturg
Yari Cervas is a director/dramaturg and teaching artist invoking the ritual of theatre through the alchemy of hyphenated identity. Their work is rebellious, relational, and embodied. Director: Desert Rock Garden (New Village Arts); REDD (Key City Public Theatre); The Minotaur (Wittenberg University); Electra (SheArts LA); Too Much Skin (SheArts LA); The Fire In Me (Asian Story Theatre); You’re Safe Here (MaArte Theatre Collective); Lee and the Black Hole (Edinburgh Fringe); Your Best American Girl (MaArte Theatre Collective). Assistant Director: M. Butterfly (South Coast REP, Desdamona Chiang), Vietgone (San Diego REP, Jesca Prudencio); Dragon Mama (Williamstown Theatre Festival, Andrew Russell), Voyeur de Venus (MOXIE Theatre, Delicia Turner Sonnenberg); The Last Wife (Cygnet Theatre, Robby Lutfy). Awards/Honors: Bill Foeller Directing Fellow (2024); Directors Lab West (2024); Craig Noel Award (2022); San Diego Int’l Fringe Best of Fest Critics Pick, and Outstanding World Premiere (2019); Santa Barbara Indy (2016).
yaricervas.com | @yaricervas
Vaishanavi Raul
Stage Manager
Vaishanavi Raul (she/her) is a NYC-based Stage Manager. Her recent stage management credits include When the Smoke Clears (The Flea), Animal Farm (Stagedoor Manor), Alexa, Play (United SOLO, Edinburgh Fringe), Time Share (off-broadway) by Tanner Forbes, The Monk & Alexander (The Supergeographics), and now, America is the Heart. Vai thanks her friends, family, mentors, and you, the reader—thank you for your time and support. @raulvaishanavi
Jose Andres Tapales Lopez
Actor
Andres Lopez is humbled to join this wonderful ensemble of artists and honored to be bringing this important Filipino work to life. He is deeply grateful to his family, friends, and mentors for their endless support and love. Para sa bayan! Recent credits include: Rearview (short), Lucky Night (short). Training: Lea Floden Studio
@andrestapaleslopez
alyxåndra ciale
Actor
alyxåndra ciale (aka cia) is a Trans-Indigenous CHamoru yan Pinoy cultural worker residing within Lenapehoking, between New York City and Upstate Millerton. They graduated from the University of Michigan’s BFA Acting Conservatory in 2021 and work as a freelance performer, choreopoet, and somatic practitioner. Their work has been at Judson Memorial Church, The Public, Triskelion, Brick Theater, Soho Playhouse, TV Eye, Theater Mu, American Stage, and Cave. In 2024, they co-founded Theater Workers for a Ceasefire while organizing with AntiCapitalism for Artists after training with the inaugural EAT: Economics. Art. Transformation. cohort. This February, they completed their year-long politicized somatics training with the Center for Liberation and Aliveness and were an AiR at Caldera in Sisters, Oregon. They are also a Queer|Art and Trans Oral History Project Finalist. cia is currently organizing Baby Together, a QTBIPOC activation series merging healing justice and creative mutual aid for disaster relief.
cialikethey.com | @cialikethey
Claro de los Reyes
Actor
Claro de los Reyes (he/him) is an actor, filmmaker, theatre artist, educator, and public historian. Born in the Philippines and raised throughout the United States, Claro draws from his diverse upbringing and eclectic interests to make art that interrogates transnational identity and local culture. As an actor he has performed with theater companies that include: Pan Asian Rep, NAATCO, Leviathan Lab, Flint Rep, Powerhouse Theater, and International WOW. Film credits include: PLANE (Lionsgate). He wrote and directed the film “Sands Street” which is currently in its festival run (Urbanworld, San Diego Asian Film Festival). Other accomplishments include: The Laundromat Project’s Create Change Artist Commission; Downtown Art’s Artist-in-Residence; Network of Ensemble Theatre’s Virtual Explorations Grant. He is a member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab and the director of Atlantic Pacific Theatre, an independent company committed to cross cultural exchange, pluralism, and decolonized creative practices.
clarodelosreyes.com | @clarodelosreyes
Jason Yango
Actor / Macario
Jason Yanto is a proud Pinoy Jersey Boy, now based in NYC. Recent credits - Poster Boys (Frigid NY), Welcome to Arroyo’s (CFRT), Dog Man: the Musical (Tour), as well as several national and international commercial campaigns. Stream “Fallin’” on all platforms! @jasonyanto
Residency Highlights
More to come soon!