Throughout our exploration of Benjamin Benne’s powerful script, I was moved by the text’s double life as a love story and a waking nightmare, and challenged by the questions it revealed. Alma and Angel’s story is a familiar one on the surface: a family trying to joyfully move through quintessential milestones of the American Dream even when uncertainty chips away at courage and resolve.

Alma is activated by the specificity of its place on the timeline: the crisis and conflict that defined the 45th presidency, the horror of detainment and deportation at the U.S./Mexico border amplified on the world stage, and the tragedy of assimilation – existence in a liminal space, searching for belonging, navigating struggle, personal sacrifice, dissonance in familial ideals, and generational division. Then and now, narratives around immigrants and asylum seekers have used fear to perpetuate misconceptions about the road to citizenship, without care for the impact white-supremacist and xenophobic legislation has on families across the continent. I invite you to reflect on that time, the fears you may remember encountering, and the tremendous changes that have occurred since then.

What is the scariest force you can imagine entering your home, and destroying your family?
How would you respond if you discovered what haunts your nightmares and has been hiding in plain sight all day?

Alma and Angel must face their fears this evening. As they face and attempt to wield fear with compassion, may they have the courage to step further into the dark and towards one another.

We offer this piece to our dear Mother. Our dear mothers. Gratitude to the mothers who advocate for and protect us. Gratitude to the caregivers who fill our bellies and teach us mutual respect and devotion, who make a way before us and dress our wounds. Gratitude to the young ones who open their hearts with compassion and care for their elders – whose futures we endeavor to protect.

We remind them of a history they want to forget.
We proclaim the history they cannot ignore.

Denise Yvette Serna

Director, Alma by Benjamin Benne

Welcome to our 25th Anniversary!

The staff, artistic company, and board are all filled with pride and delight as we celebrate our silver anniversary and 25 years of bold and audacious theatre. As loyal patrons to Curious Theatre Company you are all too familiar with our rich history and legacy of artistic excellence, exploration of contemporary issues through provocative theatre, and our fearlessness and feistiness that we carry and uphold in every aspect of our work.

In 1997, a vanguard group of artists were inspired to create and cultivate artistic work together and more importantly, artistic work that meant something. From the beginning, those vanguard artists dreamed of an artistic home for fearless political and progressive new works focused on social justice and equality. That origin is what has catapulted Curious Theatre Company to where it is today! And the undercurrent that has carried us forward and kept us afloat is you. Deep thanks and appreciation to so many artists, patrons, and of course our community.

Yes, 25 years is something to celebrate. Something to reflect on. Under Chip Walton’s leadership and vision and Dee Covington’s heart and vision, Curious Theatre Company has created a remarkable body of artistic work through our shared vision, commitment to our mission and values, and the exceptional ensemble of artists that make up our artistic company. 25 years is also creating a spark. A new spark challenging us to dream big. Yes, we will remain rooted in our mission-driven goal of creating artistic work that stimulates conversation beyond the theatre doors. Yes, we will continue to advocate for a future that is better than today.

We thank you for your support and belief in us! AND we will dream big; we will stretch ourselves to lean further in and excavate new and innovative ways in which to be who we are and who we say we want to be as an organization through both our words and our actions. Without a doubt, know that we will remain Curious.  We hope you will stay Curious!

Happy 25th Anniversary!

Jada Suzanne Dixon & Jeannene Bragg

Artistic Director & Managing Director