Cycles

Playwright: Milta Ortiz
Director: Jennifer Welch
Location: Tucson, AZ / Virtual Performance
Newsroom: Arizona Daily Star (Patty Machelor and Perla Treviso)

Inspired by the reporting of Arizona Daily Star reporters
 Patty Machelor, Perla Trevizo, Emily Bregel and Sarah Garrecht Gasse

Cycles is a documentary play created in partnership with StoryWorks and is based on the Arizona Daily Star’s year-long investigation into Arizona’s foster care system. Set in Tucson, Cycles follows the lives of an unlikely pair of teens who bond at Pima County’s juvenile detention facility and support each other as they struggle to navigate the state’s system.

As with all StoryWorks plays, this story is factual and verified, all the characters are based on real people and no names have been changed. It is our intention to transform the investigative reporting into art on stage and share this story with young people across Pima County. Inspiring a public conversation on the realities of our broken system and the impact it is having on the future of our community. Following the StoryWorks model, ​Cycles​ is two acts. The first act is the livestream play and the second act is a community conversation that immediately follows. During this conversation, the audience has the opportunity to ask questions of the reporters who investigated the story, juvenile care professionals and the creative team.