Play written and directed by Tlaloc Rivas will premiere in Cleveland

Friday, May 15, 2015

Tlaloc Rivas
Tlaloc Rivas

A play written and directed by University of Iowa Assistant Professor Tlaloc Rivas will premiere at Cleveland Public Theatre this month. Johanna: Facing Forward will be showing for three weeks only, May 28 through June 13.

Rivas is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre Arts, part of the UI College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. He based Johanna: Facing Forward on the true story of Johanna Orozco, a Cleveland teen and domestic violence survivor. In 2007, she survived a gunshot wound to the jaw by her boyfriend and raised awareness nationwide of violence and abuse in teen relationships. Rivas drew most of the story's details from “Facing Forward”, an award-winning series written by investigative journalist Rachel Dissell for The Plain Dealer, as well as from Orozco's own writings.

The piece is produced in conjunction with Teatro Público de Cleveland. After its world premiere at Cleveland Public Theatre, Johanna: Facing Forward will be produced again by the University of Kansas Department of Theatre in October.

For tickets and information, contact Cleveland Public Theatre at 216-631-2727.

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.