Tale of 2Cities: An American Joy Ride of Multiple Tracks

In 1957, a mostly Mexican-American community was evicted to make way for Dodgers Stadium. The event involves not only the razing of a beautiful valley and of one of the highest hills in Los Angeles but the accidental collusion of both left and right wing forces in destroying a closely-knit barrio. The story behind Tale is perhaps one whose time has come: recent works by musician Ry Cooder and Chicano theatre troupe Culture Clash both delve into the history of Chavez Ravine. But Woodbury’s is a tale of TWO cities — equally inspired by the story on the other coast: In Brooklyn, where the Ebbets Housing Project now occupies the former Ebbets Field, people lost not only a home-team but a hard-won collective identity and a whole way of life. Woodbury’s impetus for exploring this history was the sense of loss that increasingly permeates our contemporary lives — a pervasive erasure of place and history, culture and continuity.

Tale of 2Cities explores the reverberations of this multi-layered erasure on multiple generations, both then and now, from the rise of McCarthy to the fall of the twin towers, with influences ranging from Steinbeck to DJ Shadow.