Family history, cultural identity, and enduring love take center stage in The House, the winner of Germantown Community Theatre’s Season 54 Teresa Jordan Emerging Local Playwright Competition. Written by Memphis playwright Savannah S. Miller and presented in collaboration with Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group, the production runs June 25th through 28th at Germantown Community Theatre.
Set across two timelines, The House follows two brothers in 1980s Florida as they clash over whether to sell their family home. Their conflict is intertwined with the story of their mother, Lydia, who left Puerto Rico in the 1940s to build a life with a white American soldier. As past and present collide, the play explores questions of belonging, assimilation, family legacy, and what it means to carry multiple identities.
For Miller, the story began with her own family history. Inspired by her great-grandparents’ relationship and a memory of her great-grandfather writing what he called “a love story” after his wife’s death, Miller transformed personal inspiration into a work that examines both love and cultural inheritance.
“My desire to learn more about where I came from is why I wrote this,” Miller says. “It was my way of connecting with them and learning more.”
Monica Sanchez (Photo: Courtesy diana & angel ortez)
The dual timeline allows the playwright to examine how family stories echo across generations. While the play focuses on one family’s experience, Miller hopes it sparks broader conversations about identity and the pressures many people face to conform in pursuit of acceptance.
Monica Sanchez, artistic director of Cazateatro and a collaborator on the production, says the story resonated because of its honest portrayal of immigrant and Latino experiences. “The play does not present stereotypes,” Sanchez says. “Instead, it shows real people navigating love, family expectations, cultural differences, and questions of identity.”
Though rooted in the Latinx experience, both Sanchez and Miller believe the themes are universal. Audiences can expect a story that invites reflection on family history, empathy, and the ways our past continues to shape who we become.
THE HOUSE, GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY THEATRE, 3037 FOREST HILL IRENE RD., THRUSDAY, JUNE 25-SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 7:30 P.M., SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2:30 P.M.
