Playwrights’ Arena and Victory Theatre Center present “Luca & Uri,” written by Nicholas Pilapil, directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera (artistic director of Playwrights’ Arena), and starring Kurt Kanazawa and Roland Ruiz, at the Victory Theatre Center’s Little Victory, 3326 W. Victory Blvd., Burbank.
Preview on Friday, Feb. 13; opens Saturday, Feb. 14, and closes Sunday, March 15. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m.
“Luca & Uri” opens with a breakup between two men fiercely bound by love yet unable to hold on, tracing the fractured arc of their decade-long relationship in Los Angeles. As their dreams and desires pull them apart, their intimacy dissolves into quiet compromises and mounting silences, exposing the gradual erosion of self.
Unfolding like a fractured memory through moments of tenderness, passion, and resentment, the play confronts the cost of staying, the quiet courage it takes to leave, and the heartbreak of loving someone so deeply that you begin to disappear inside them.
Rivera said, “I am excited to delve into the intricacies of a complicated gay relationship, told in a non-linear timeline, giving the audience snippets of their relationship. Ultimately allowing the viewer to see different points of views along the way at different times of the relationship.”
Rivera, the founding artistic director of Playwrights’ Arena, received the inaugural Career Achievement Award (2015) and the Queen of Angels Award (2024) from Stage Raw. He recently directed “Swipe and Three” at the LGBT Center and the workshop of “Thieves of California” at the Getty Villa, where he received critical acclaim for all three productions. He has also received accolades for his direction from the N.Y. Fringe Festival and L.A. Weekly.
He is a board member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Association.
“Luca & Uri” is co-produced by Elmira Rahim, associate artistic director of Playwrights’ Arena, and Maria Gobetti, artistic director of Victory Theatre Center. The creative team includes Christopher Murillo, scenic design; Azra King-Abadi, lighting design; Jesse Mandapat, sound design; Mylette Nora, costume design; Arnab Banerji, dramaturg; and Letitia Chang, stage manager.
Gobetti said, “This is a very astute play about relationships. Director Jon Lawrence Rivera is an excellent choice to take the lead on this production. The Victory Theatre Center produces original plays and is proud to be doing a co-production with Playwrights Arena.”
In addition to “Luca & Uri,” Pilapil has also penned “God Will Do the Rest” (Artists at Play and Latino Theater Company) and “The Bottoming Process” (IAMA Theatre Company). He has developed work with Geffen Playhouse, Victory Gardens, Theater Mu, Boston Court Pasadena, Ensemble Studio Theatre/L.A., Theatre Rhinoceros, and The Workshop Theater, among others.
Pilapil is a winner of the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival, an alum of The Writers’ Room at the Geffen Playhouse, and IAMA Theatre Company’s Emerging Playwrights Lab.
Rivera stated, “I have been watching the meteoric rise of Filipino American playwright Nicholas Pilapil since ‘The Bottoming Process’ in 2023, and the more recently ‘And God Will Do the Rest’ in 2024. He has a unique voice centering his narrative on the Filipino/Asian American experience.
“Playwrights’ Arena presented a reading of ‘Luca & Uri’ (then titled ‘Multiple Loads’) as part of its New Pages Lab series. We knew right after the reading that we would produce this play.”
This two-person performance features Kanazawa as Uri and Ruiz as Luca.
Kanazawa is an accomplished actor, opera singer, and playwright. He attended Juilliard, MSM, UC Irvine, and Columbia University. He has performed with East West Players, Pan Asian Repertory, Boston Court Pasadena, L.A. LGBT Center, Rogue Artists Ensemble, and Sierra Madre Playhouse.
His screen credits include the film “No No Girl” and the English dub of “Asakusa Kid”; the TV series “The Lincoln Lawyer” and “Bosch: Legacy”; and the video games “Ghost of Yōtei” and “Rise of the Ronin.” He also appears in the podcast series “Purple Heart Warriors.”
Ruiz recently performed with Maine’s Portland Stage in “The Snow Queen” and “Clyde’s.” He has also appeared on “9-1-1 Lone Star” (Fox), “All Rise” (CBS), “Pure Genius” (CBS), “NCIS” (CBS), and Ryan Murphy’s “Grotesquerie.”
“Roland Ruiz worked on the devised play March conceived and directed by me in 2020 – at the height of the pandemic,” said Rivera. “Our schedules aligned for ‘Luca & Uri,’ and I am so excited to work with him again. I have seen and admired Kurt Kanazawa’s work in the past. This will be our first collaboration, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity.”
For tickets and information call (818) 841-5421 or visit ovationtix.com, playwrightsarena.org or thevictorytheatrecenter.org.