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"Piercingly honest and exquisitely moving.” — The Boston Globe
"Candid, raw, and exhilarating!” — WBUR's The ARTery
Funny, brutally honest, and ultimately cathartic, Mala puts a sharp focus on what it means to put our loved ones first, right to the very end, and what happens when we strive to be good but don’t always succeed.
Named one of the best plays of the year by The Boston Globe, WBUR’s The ARTery, and DigBoston when it premiered at ArtsEmerson, this powerful one-woman show written by and featuring Huntington Playwright-in-Residence Melinda Lopez (Sonia Flew, Becoming Cuba) dances between a mother’s growing frailty and a daughter’s quest for grace — all set during an epic Boston winter.
The Huntington is pleased to present the ArtsEmerson production of Mala.
Approximate run time: 80 minutes with no intermission.
Seating at select performances of Mala is limited, but seats are released every day for sale. Please call the Huntington Box Office at 617 266 0800 to learn about our Advanced Wait List and be upgraded to a seat automatically when it becomes available.
“I am thrilled to bring Mala back to Boston. The Huntington has provided me the time and space to continue to create new work as their playwright-in-residence, and I am grateful to them for remounting the original production, as this play is extremely close to my heart.”— Huntington Playwright-in-Residence Melinda Lopez
“It was a true joy collaborating with Melinda on the premiere of her play, Mala. The humor, intelligence and courage that Melinda brought to her writing immediately resonated and provided a great foundation to tell her important story, universal to so many.”— Director David Dower, ArtsEmerson's Co-Artistic Director
"Candid, raw, and exhilarating!" See why Mala is "so loved by Boston audiences."
Watch
Step into the rehearsal hall of Melinda Lopez's powerful personal drama Mala.
Boston audiences are calling Mala "powerful," "fun," and "entertaining." Don't miss this powerful personal drama on stage through February 4.
Family, Loss & Those Long Boston Winters: A Conversation with Melinda Lopez
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"A profound experience! Mala shows us again why Melinda Lopez is so loved by Boston audiences.” — EDGE Boston
"Exquisite! A powerful, personal drama.” — The Patriot Ledger
"An emotionally stirring experience. Melinda Lopez is simply wonderful!” — Boxing Over Broadway
Melinda Lopez is the playwright-in-residence at the Huntington Theatre Company. Her one-woman show Mala won the 2017 Elliot Norton Award for Best New Play. Other plays include Becoming Cuba (2014) (Huntington Theatre Company), Back the Night (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), Caroline in Jersey (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Orchids to Octopi (Central Square Theater, commissioned by the National Institutes of Health for the Darwin bicentennial), Gary (Steppenwolf First Look Repertory and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), Alexandros (Laguna Playhouse), Midnight Sandwich/Medianoche (Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, Coconut Grove Playhouse), and multiple short plays.
David Dower recently directed Mala (2018) at the Huntington. He is artistic director at ArtsEmerson, where he directed the world premiere of Mala. Since arriving at ArtsEmerson in 2012 he has also staged Mr. Joy, Breath & Imagination, and Baritones UnBound (which subsequently toured to Asolo Rep and Chicago’s Royal George Theater).
Ari Herzig previously designed Mala (2018) and Ryan Landry’s “M” (2013) for the Huntington Theatre Company. They have designed projections for Chinglish (Lyric Stage Company) and Sugar (ArtsEmerson). They have served as a projection consultant for the remount of Romeo and Juliet (Florida Grand Opera). They work as the assistant lighting supervisor for the office of the arts at Emerson College where they also teach the master electrician course.
Arshan Gailus previously designed and composed original music for Mala (2018) and Becoming Cuba (2014) for the Huntington Theatre Company.
Kristine Holmes is the full-time prop shop manager at the Huntington Theatre here in Boston and has been employed there for twenty-five years.
P.Carl is a distinguished artist in residence at Emerson College in Boston. He is also a writer and lecturer on theatre, gender, inclusive practices,and innovative models for building community and organizations. He is an accomplished theatre artist most recently serving as a key creative collaborator (dramaturg and producer) on a range of diverse projects including Claudia Rankine’s new play, The White Card, Melinda Lopez’s Mala (2018) (2017 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding New Script).
Scott Pinkney has created the lighting for more than 400 productions in a career spanning more than 40 years. Mr. Pinkney was represented on Broadway by Harvey Fierstein's Tony Award winning Torch Song Trilogy and The Glines One Act Festival.
Debra A. Acquavella has previous Huntington credits that include Mala (2018), Good People (2012), and Betrayal (2012) as a substitute stage manager. On Broadway, she was production stage manager of the long-running Metamorphoses at Circle in the Square Theatre, Master Harold…and the boys, and Jane Eyre, The Musical. Off Broadway credits include Radio Macbeth, directed by Anne Bogart; Falsettos at Playwrights Horizons; The Thing About Men at the Promenade Theatre; and Metamorphoses at Second Stage Theatre.
Lizzy Gordon previously worked on Mala (2017) and Ripcord (2017) for the Huntington Theatre Company.
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