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About the Show
Will death bring a family together or pull them apart? Two Latina sisters are appearing on an HGTV-style reality show to sell their family home, hoping to capitalize on the gentrification in their “changing neighborhood.” As they perform for the camera the show starts to slip into the surreal: one sister grapples with the turmoil of the family’s ancestral past and the other learns how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the family’s future. Dream Hou$e, which earned both the Kendeda Award and Steinberg Playwriting Award in 2021, is a crowd-pleasing comedy with a twist that asks: What is the cultural cost of progress in America? And is cashing in always selling out?
Meet the Artists
Eliana Pipes, Playwright
Eliana Pipes is a writer, filmmaker and actor based in her hometown of Los Angeles. Her plays include DREAM HOU$E (world premiere co-production Alliance Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, and Baltimore Center Stage, published by Concord Samuel French); HOOPS (world premiere commission Milwaukee Chamber Theater); and BITE ME. She holds commissions from Two River Theater and South Coast Repertory. Her work has been developed or presented at the New York Theatre Workshop Dartmouth Residency, Playwright's Realm Scratchpad Series, South Coast Repertory Pacific Playwright’s Festival, NNPN National New Play Showcase, Old Globe Powers New Voices Festival, Fire This Time Festival, and Drama League DirectorFest. Her writing awards include the Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship, Alliance Kendeda Prize, Leah Ryan Prize, KCACTF Harold and Mimi Steinberg Award, National Latiné Playwrights Award, and Dr. Floyd Gaffney Award. As a filmmaker she's been awarded the Academy Gold Fellowship for Women through AMPAS, the WAVE Grant and Outfest x Colin Higgins Youth Filmmaker Grant. She was selected for the Orchard Project's Episodic Lab for her pilot THE YOUNG LORDS. BA English Columbia University, MFA Playwriting Boston University. www.elianapipes.com.
Dylan Arredondo, Director
Dylan Arredondo is a DMV-based, Mexican-Japanese theatremaker concentrating on new work that defies form and prioritizes visual spectacle. As a director, his DC credits include: Flying V: Astro Boy & the God of Comics (Helen Hayes Nomination), Unexpected Stage: Fade; The Kaleidoscapes: TRACE; Rorschach: Klecksography (2020, 2023), 4615 Theatre Co.: Parlor Games. Associate directing: Spooky Action: Frontières Sans Frontières; Prologue: Monsters of the American Cinema; Rep Stage: Falsettos; Round House: Quixote Nuevo; INTAR: The Beacons. www.DylanArredondo.com @dmarredondo
Leela Avilés-Dawson, Ensemble, Patricia Understudy
Leela is thrilled to be making her NextStop debut. Regional Credits include Toby’s Dinner Theatre: A Chorus Line (Helen Hayes Award Winner for Outstanding Supporting Performer), The Sound of Music, 9 to 5 The Musical, Jersey Boys. Adventure Theatre: She Persisted. Creative Cauldron: Aladdin, Woman On Fire. Leela is a DMV-raised actor, songwriter, recording artist, and graduate of Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. Instagram: @leelaavilesdawson
Carianmax Benitez, Ensemble, Julia Understudy
DC AREA: Signature Theatre: In The Heights (Carla); Keegan Theatre: Seussical (Bird Girl/Sour Kangaroo u/s) Helen Hayes Award: Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical, Yoga Play, Merrily We Roll Along (Swing), Webster’s Bitch, Amazing Adventures of Dr.Wonderful & Her Dog. EDUCATION: BM in Musical Theatre from The Catholic University of America. Instagram: @carianmaxbenitez
Bri Houtman, Swing
Bri is an actor and director local to the DMV who is psyched to work with NextStop for the first time! This play is indicative of the kind of work that Bri loves--it’s comedic, dark, surreal, and to use one of Dylan’s favorite terms: full of “juicy” social commentary. Bri is grateful to be part of such a dynamic play for their NextStop debut. Local credits include: Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Human Museum, and Angel Number Nine with Rorschach Theater, A Commedia Romeo and Juliet (Juliet) and Love Like Tuesday with Faction of Fools, Kill the Ripper and Iphigenia with We Happy Few, and Hamlet (Ophelia) with Endangered Species Theater. Regional Credits: Dial M for Murder (Margot) and A Christmas Carol (Mrs. Cratchit) with Penobscot Theatre Company. They hold a B.A. in Theater and Criminal Justice from George Washington University.
Ixchel, Julia
Ixchel is a local actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comic. Recent Local Acting credits include Folger Theatre: DC, I Love You : Kennedy Center TYA 2025 Nat’l Tour; Look Both Ways; Gala Hispanic Theatre: Frida Libre; Theater Alliance: Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience; NextStop Theatre Company: In the Heights; Constellation Theatre Company: Incognito. She has been featured for her comedy, music, and storytelling for Grassroots Comedy, Improbable Comedy, Comedy Loft, Callback Comedy, Busboys and Poets, The Washington Roast, Spit Dat in Residence at Woolly Mammoth, The Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, Rhizome DC and 7DrumCity.
Sadie Koopman, Ensemble, Tessa Understudy
Sadie is beyond thrilled to be making her NextStop Theatre debut! Other local credits include Shakespeare Theatre Company: As You Like It; STCA: Romeo and Juliet, The Rover, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Odyssey. Regional credits include Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma: Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sadie has an MFA in Classical Acting (Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy) and BM in Music Theatre and Vocal Performance (Oklahoma City University). Instagram: @sadie.koopman Website: sadiekoopman.com
Jule Nelson-Duac, Tessa
Jule is an actor, director, and producer who spent many years in Los Angeles working with such companies as Warner Bros, Cartoon Network, and The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles. She holds a MFA in Classical Acting from the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Academy at George Washington University. Her past credits include work in theatre, television, film, and voice-over. Some of her favorite roles include Gwendolyn Fairfax in The Importance of Being Earnest (Stolen Shakespeare Guild), Abigail Williams in The Crucible (Tarrant Actors Regional Theatre), Rosalind in As You Like It (Devil’s Isle Shakespeare), Katherine in Henry V (CISCO Theatre), and the Eternal Feminine in Wittenberg (Amphibian Stage Productions).
Cristina Sanchez, Patricia
Cristina is thrilled to be returning to the NextStop stage! After studying theatre in Madrid, Spain, Cristina moved to Canada to attend Vancouver Film School. Back in her hometown, Cristina works both on camera and onstage. Local theatre credits include: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show (Imagination Stage), Native Gardens (Next Stop Theatre), Principe y Principe (Gala Hispanic Theatre), La Llorona (We Happy Few), Comedy of Errors (Endangered Species Theatre Project), Bits N’ Pieces (Saturday Ghosts), and 14 (Prometheus Theatre).
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