It’s a family drama saga that’s half a century in the making, with roots going back almost 300 years.
Not quite your typical visit home for the holidays.
PlayMakers Repertory Company‘s PRC² series continues this month with “Highway 47,” a one-woman show written and performed by KJ Sanchez. Sanchez is the founding CEO of American Records and a voice actor who’s appeared on “Dora the Explorer” – but for this piece, she dug into her fascinating family history.
“Highway 47” is about a family dispute, but that’s only the beginning – or, more accurately, the end. It’s a story that began in 1734, when settlers were granted land in New Mexico. (You may have seen some of that land yourself: all the middle-of-the-desert scenes from “Breaking Bad” were filmed there.) More than two centuries later, with all the descendants of those settlers still holding the deeds, a legal dispute broke out (with Sanchez’s father at the center) that tore families apart and lasted nearly 50 years.
After the dust finally settled, Sanchez set out to write the story. Interviewing major players on all sides (including people who’d been her family’s enemies for decades), she pieced together a play that explores the conflict while also examining her own relationship with her father.
“My mother asked me not to tell you this story until she was dead,” she says in the play.
WCHL’s Aaron Keck spoke with KJ Sanchez.
“Highway 47” runs at PlayMakers from Wednesday, January 6, through Sunday, January 10. Shows are 7:30 pm every night in PlayMakers’ Elizabeth Price Kenan Theatre, with an additional matinee show at 2 pm Sunday.
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