Dry Land

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Block Party/CTG Production:

2017 Ovation Winner - Sound Design

Nominations  - Direction, Production (Large Theater), Lead Actress in a Play (2), Set Design (Large Theater) 

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2016 Ovation Winner for Best Production (Intimate Theater)
Nomination - Leading Actress 
Stage Raw Nominations - Production, Directing, Leading Actress (2)
LADCC Nomination - Leading Actress

 

The 25th Annual Ticket Holders Awards by Travis Michael Holder
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Ben Horwitz, Dry Land, Echo Theatre Company
BEST PRODUCTION RUNNERS-UP:
Dry Land, Echo Theater Company
BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY RUNNERS-UP:
Connor Kelly-Eiding, Dry Land, Echo
Teagan Rose, Dry Land, Echo
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY RUNNERS-UP: 
Jenny Soo
BEST PLAYWRIGHT RUNNERS-UP:
Ruby Rae Spiegel, Dry Land, Echo
BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY RUNNERS-UP: 
Alana Dietze, Dry Land, Echo
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN RUNNERS-UP:
Justin Huen, Dry Land, Echo
BEST SOUND DESIGN RUNNERS-UP:
Jeff Gardner, Dry Land, Echo 

 

Best of 2016:

KCRW - “Dry Land” by Ruby Rae Spiegel at the Echo Theatre Company tackled the painful and messy realities of an unwanted teen pregnancy. Beautifully directed by Alana Dietze with a powerful ensemble, “Dry Land” was more proof the Echo Theater Company isn’t scared of tough protagonists. It was one of the most challenging plays of the year that committed to an idea and saw it through in all its messiness and power. It took responsibility for everything it brought to the stage. It’s not a play for everyone, but it was a play that I can’t forget."  - Anthony Byrnes

The TVolution - "The Echo succeeded in knocking one out of the park with Dry Land...Alana Dietze directed this grueling drama with a clinical detachment, underplaying the graphic horrors depicted on stage in a fashion assuring it would stay with audiences long after they left the theatre...If any reviewer out there didn’t find Rose and Kelly-Eiding’s work among the years most stellar performances – they should batter their keyboard flat with a blunt object and bury it in their backyard, because they’re wrong." - Earnest Kearney 

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​LA Times
CRITIC'S CHOICE
"Not for the faint of heart, Ruby Rae Spiegel's play about the effects of an unwanted pregnancy on a tough but terrified teenage girl and her lonely new friend receives a taut and harrowing staging from director Alana Dietze and features precociously perfect performances by Teagan Rose and Connor Kelly-Eiding as high school swim teammates bonding in a time of confusion and crisis. Despite the occasional dramaturgical blunder, the sheer psychic clout of this visceral and important play should not be underestimated. You may flinch — but you will be unable to look away." --F. Kathleen Foley, LA Times

KCRW
"A beautifully insightful and honest look at what it means to be a teenager -- and especially a teenage girl. I can't remember a play that looked as unflinchingly at how difficult, vicious, and joyous those formative years are...terribly courageous and artful story that both playwright, director, and brilliant cast are bringing to the stage and the profound responsibility they are taking for it... It is a play that will move you deeply and stay with you" -- Anthony Byrnes, KCRW

and in a follow up piece...
"The most powerful, and devastating, scene I’ve seen in the theater this year happens without a single word of dialogue." --Anthony Byrnes, KCRW (spoilers contained in this piece)

The Tvolution 
“ONE PLAY YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY DIVE INTO… shimmers like burnished gold… [Director Alana] Dietze demonstrates a staggering artistry…. performances as close to flawless as one can conceive.” — Ernest Kearney, The Tvolution

ColoradoBoulevard.net 
“HEART-WRENCHING… TIMELY, YET TIMELESS… Alana Dietze’s direction is superb… on point and excellent” — Carol Edger-Germain, ColoradoBoulevard.net

​LA Splash 
“INSIGHTFUL, GUT-WRENCHING, HUMANE… Very strong performances by Teagan Rose and Connor Kelly-Eiding… Great directing by Alana Dietze” — Ester Benjamon Shifrin, LA Splash

​Arts In LA 
“REMARKABLE… introduce[es] us to [Ruby Rae Spiegel’s] clear, resounding, delightfully droll voice... intimate and personal, featuring sparklingly fresh dialogue and fascinatingly real character studies… exceptionally fluid staging by director Alana Dietze” — Travis Holder, Arts In LA

The World Through Night-Tinted Glasses
“HIGH PRAISE… bring[s] honesty and humanity in massive doses to the stage” — David MacDowell Blue, The World Through Night-Tinted Glasses

Stage and Cinema 
“STAGGERINGLY WELL WRITTEN… ferociously funny… two riveting performances that will haunt me for some time to come.” — Tony Frankel, Stage and Cinema

Discover Hollywood 
“MESMERIC… [a] truthful, tormenting and yet witty story… raw, emotional and gritty” — Rachel Flanagan, Discover Hollywood

Stage Scene LA 
“WOW!... FEARLESS… packs an emotional wallop made even more gut-punching by the gradual way it sneaks up on you. With Teagan Rose and Connor Kelly-Eiding giving two of the year’s most dazzling performances, it is a play you’ll be thinking about long after the locker room fades to black.” — Steven Stanley, Stage Scene LA

Stage Raw 
“RECOMMENDED… STAGE RAW TOP 10… IMPRESSIVE… entertaining and assured… full of unexpected humor.” —  Terry Morgan, Stage Raw

Paul Myrvold’s Theatre Notes 
“EXTRAORDINARY… builds to a climax the like of which I have never seen… Impeccably directed… handsomely mounted… Great play, great performances, great theatre! — Paul Myrvold’s Theatre Notes 

On Stage and Screen 
“HEARTFELT, MOVING… impressively taut and gut-wrenching throughout… Rose and Kelly-Eiding create a bond and characters so real you nearly forget you’re watching a play and not just eavesdropping.” — Erin Conley, On Stage and Screen 

BroadwayWorld 
“Smoothly directed by Alana Dietze, [Teagan] Rose and [Connor] Kelly-Eiding both command the stage” — Gil Kaan, BroadwayWorld

Will Call 
“REMARKABLE… you are unlikely to have ever seen performances by two young actresses better, or even equal to what transpires on this stage… The acting and the direction by Alana Dietze are exceptional.” — Ingrid Wilmot, Will Call

LA Weekly 
“Couldn’t be timelier… so gripping that it’s impossible to look away... lays out the predicament of millions of trapped, bewildered women.” — Deborah Klugman, LA Weekly

Leading Actress  - Connor Kelly-Eiding, Teagan Rose