TEA’s Fifth Anniversary Season
October 2017 - July 2018
ACAD Gallery Theatre, 1400 Dallas St., Aurora CO 80010
Hearts of Palm by Patricia Milton
October 7-29, 2017
Friday and Saturday 7:30pm | Sunday 2pm
The satirical comedy, Hearts of Palm, follows a group of American corporate executives intent on purchasing a palm oil plantation in the fictional Southeast Asian island nation of Marititu. Relaxed safety standards, nonexistent environmental regulations, and dirt-cheap labor attract Empire Holdings to close a deal. This scenario plays out against a local rebellion, a failing romance, and a rogue negotiator. Hearts of Palm subverts several well-worn tropes, including white savior complex, gender bias, white male privilege and the notion that women don't know how to negotiate.

Photo by Brian Miller
Fermata by Maria Cheng
January 12-28, 2018
Friday and Saturday 7:30pm | Sunday 2pm
On tour at Theater Company of Lafayette
Three generations of brilliant musicians meet to celebrate the matriarch’s 80th birthday. Secrets, jealousies, lost dreams and future hopes collide and unfold with humor and grace in a lush villa, under-scored by strains of Bach, Beethoven, Mahler, Johann Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Chinese folk and milonga – music of the barrios of Buenos Aires. What is Grandma’s secret? Can Da Jieh overcome her ghosts? Will Shiow May face the consequences of her own choices? Can Sabrina forgive her mother’s disapproval?

Photo by Maileen Hamto
Coping with America, three one-acts:
Occidental Moon by Pavithra Prasad,
All of the Above by Jon Vogels and
Gunpowder Man by Rick Foster
March 9 through April 1, 2018
Saturday 7:30pm | Sunday 2pm
Our first sequel! On the heels of our 2016 hit Coming to America, the story continues with hilarity and hijinks of three immigrants from India, Iran and China as they cope with the American dream. Directed by Cecilia Pang, director and professor of theatre CU Boulder.

Photo by Maileen Hamto
JOURNEYS
Dust Storm by Rick Foster and
Spirit & Sworded Treks by Maria Cheng
April 28 through May 20, 2018
Saturday 7:30pm | Sunday 2pm
To conclude our fifth anniversary season, we are restaging the two hits from our first year! Dust Storm is a powerful and poignant coming of age story of a rebellious youth enmeshed in the Japanese internment tragedy of WWII. TEA is proud to introduce the brilliant Michael Chen in the role of Seiji. Spirit & Sworded Treks is a hilarious tale of one woman’s attempt at maintaining a spiritual path while pursuing the American Dream!

Photo by Maileen Hamto
Spirit & Sworded Treks by Maria Cheng
June 18 through 24, 2018
WorldFest 2018, Venice, Florida
TEA has been invited to this quadrennial international theatre festival in Venice, Florida. Artistic director Maria Cheng will be performing this solo, which the NY Times has described as ”…wickedly funny… exquisitely crafted.” NPR hails her as "...a consummate theater artist.” This work has received critical acclaim across four continents, and has moved its audiences to laughter and tears as Cheng ruminates on family, love, solitude and what price the pursuit for the numen and transcendence.
