Season Select: Wolf at the Door

WOLF AT THE DOOR

By Marisela Treviño Orta
Directed by Melisa Pereyra

Playing: Touchstone Theatre | June 25 - Setpember 18
Featuring: Miranda Pepin, Briana J. Resa, Nancy Rodriguez and Ronald Román-Meléndez
Genre: Dark Fairytale
Last Seen at APT: First time!
Go If You Liked: The River Bride (2022), Once Upon a Bridge (2023)

About Wolf at the Door

Every knock at the door comes with a side of risk. But when a predator paces within the walls of your own home, an unexpected stranger may carry salvation. As three women desperately examine their options under the direst of deadlines, they realize they no longer have to fight alone. A rich fable of liberation rife with drama and ritual, featuring poetry as lush and velvety as a moonstruck night. The next step onto Marisela Treviño Orta’s path of Grimm Latinx Fairy Tales (extra emphasis on the grim), continue the journey that began with APT’s glorious production of The River Bride in 2022.

Like every good fairy tale, Wolf at the Door opens with a recognizable time and a place.

The Setting: Mexico. A hacienda far from anything.

The Time: Once upon a time. Winter.

Playwright Marisela Treviño Orta used a similar exposition in her 2016 play, The River Bride, setting it “Once Upon a time in small Brazilian village along the Amazon River.” In both cases, Orta firmly plants the geographical location of these plays by giving them a cultural identity, while simultaneously tying in an element of timelessness, a universal quality that aligns itself to no time period specifically.

Across cultures and languages, variations on the phrase “Once Upon A Time” have been present in storytelling for generations, even predating written recordings of these stories. Regardless of how it is said from one language to another, there is a formula of sorts that connects them all. Most cultures introduce these folk stories by referencing that the following fable happened sometime in the unspecified past and that the story is in some way singular, only occurring once like this.

Marisela Treviño Orta is skilled at incorporating these familiar elements of universal storytelling and then adding in the details that complete the story, giving it a specific voice and spin on what the audience may be expecting. Throughout her trilogy of Latinx-inspired fairytales, the themes feel known, but never truly predictable. Her plays are constructed to surprise, to share these universal stories in way that keeps us at the edge of our seat. To reinvent the very genre of stories and morals we first learned as children. Reminding us that people are not always what they seem – sometimes they aren’t even human.

Artistic Director Brenda DeVita Says:

When I talk to Melisa Pereyra, who is directing at APT for the first time with Wolf at the Door this season, the word that often comes to mind for me is “resilience.” Specifically, the resilience of women. For all that has changed, women are still expected to sacrifice for the sake of husbands, and for the sake of families. And to go beyond even those societal expectations, what does it take for women to protect themselves when their husband is not who he first appears to be? I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that this play works on you deeply, and the bond between women is central and glorious to the play. Through the force of their brilliance and will - and a little honest-to-goodness fairy-tale magic - hope shines through. And this is very much a fairy tale. The playwright, Marisela Treviño Orta, calls this series of plays "grim Latino Fairy Tales.” And like any good fairy tale, it’s scary at times. But sometimes, we walk the shadowy part of the path in order to get back to the light.

For those of you who saw The River Bride in 2022, you’ll recognize Marisela’s beautiful, poetic language. Her writing is just exquisite, and her ability to root reality within the lush world of this fable raises the stakes without sacrificing the beauty of the language, or the depth of the characters. We’re so excited about the cast, Nancy Rodriguez, who was incredible last season in Mala, and Ronald Román-Meléndez, who you’ve seen now on our stages for a few years in Love’s Labour’s Lost and The Merry Wives of Windsor, and The River Bride will be taking on a very different kind of role as Septímo. And we’re so excited to welcome Miranda Pepin and Briana Resa as Yolot and Isadora, respectively. And Melisa is an incredible artist and director, and we’re thrilled to showcase her talent in the Touchstone this summer.