“It’s elegant, it’s poetic, it’s art…a must see.” -Discover Hollywood Magazine
RECEPIENT of a Fringe Scholarship aimed at promoting diversity!
“Odilia” By Vanessa Espino is a whimsical dark comedy that follows Odilia, a young social worker driven to the borderlands in the middle of the night to save a man’s life and keep him from getting deported. A mysterious figure crosses her path and she is thrust into the Middle Ground – a dark space inhabited by the Esqueletos. They are a vibrant group of skeletons, tasked with building an offrenda (an altar) for the new arrival. Through fractured memories and lamenting tales of their past lives, the Esqueletos lead Odilia through the eerie Middle Ground on a journey of life, death, family, love and self discovery. Will Odilia find the secret to life and get back home in time to save her client’s life? Or will she be doomed to wander the Middle Ground forever?
“Odilia” draws on the Mexican traditions and rituals of Dia De Los Muertos to unfold Odilia’s journey. Performed through poetic storytelling and striking imagery this play examines what one values in life, and if those values, when upheld above everything else, are the key to living life authentically.
The play was created by playwright Vanessa Espino & director Sarah Figoten Wilson, alumni of California State University, Fullerton, and received workshop productions at The Hunger Artist Theatre and The Chance Theatre. Ms. Espino and Odilia were also selected as a regional finalist at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, where the piece received awards for both acting and directing for a new play in development.
Learn More at hff16.org/3479
Production Team
