From the Perspective of a Canoe

[NoHo Arts District, CA] – Art Crush LA is proud to present From the Perspective of a Canoe, the award-winning play by award-winning Los Angeles playwright Amy Dellagiarino, running September 12 through September 27 at hi5.agency Studios in Pasadena.

Award-Winning Contemporary Drama Explores Perspective, Empathy, and Our Culture of Consuming Tragedy

About From the Perspective of a Canoe

Dellagiarino has emerged as one of Los Angeles’ most celebrated playwrights. Her work has been honored by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, the Austin Film Festival, and Stage Raw for its emotionally resonant storytelling and nuanced exploration of contemporary life. From the Perspective of a Canoe, winner of the 2021 Austin Film Festival Playwriting Award, exemplifies her gift for revealing extraordinary complexity within ordinary people.

Beginning where most tragedies end, the play unfolds during a family 4th of July barbecue in the aftermath of a community tragedy at the hands of one of their own. As casual conversations slowly reveal hidden connections to the event, assumptions unravel, perspectives shift, and the audience is forced to reconsider everything they thought they understood.

Rather than focusing solely on the tragedy itself, From the Perspective of a Canoe examines the stories we construct about people we barely know. In an era defined by twenty-four-hour news cycles, viral videos, and true crime entertainment, the play quietly challenges audiences to examine their own relationship to tragedy. When another person’s worst day becomes something we witness through headlines and social media, what responsibility do we bear as observers? How quickly do we assign blame, create heroes and villains, and mistake partial truths for complete understanding?

With humor, compassion, and remarkable emotional honesty, Dellagiarino invites audiences to embrace uncertainty and discover the humanity that exists beyond easy judgment.

Director’s Statement

“What captivated me about Amy’s play is that it quietly turns the mirror back on the audience. We spend so much of our lives consuming stories of other people’s tragedies through headlines, social media, and endless commentary that we rarely stop to ask how we’re participating in those narratives. This play asks us to sit with uncertainty, resist easy judgment, and remember that every person carries a life far more complicated than the story we tell about them.” – Brooklyn Sample, Director

The Cast

Joe J Garcia
Ashley Hsu
Maria Kress
Mo La Blanc
James Lemire
Anastasia Rutkowski
Elizabeth Williams

The Creative Team

Playwright: Amy Dellagiarino
Director: Brooklyn Sample
Producer: Travis Williams for Art Crush LA
Stage Manager: MJ Rojas
Marketing, Art Direction & Set Design: Matt Sample

About the Playwright

Amy Dellagiarino is an award-winning Los Angeles playwright whose work explores the complexities of human relationships with wit, compassion, and emotional precision.

Her play Hello, My Name Is… received the 2025 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Writing, From the Perspective of a Canoe won the 2021 Austin Film Festival Playwriting Award, and The Value of Moscow was nominated for the 2019 Stage Raw Award for Best Playwriting.

Her published works include The Value of Moscow through Stage Rights and The Most Precious Thing, featured in The Best 10-Minute Plays 2023 (Smith & Kraus). She participated in the 2021 Kennedy Center Playwrights Intensive and earned her BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Learn more at: www.amydell.com

About Art Crush LA

Art Crush LA is a Pasadena-based nonprofit arts organization dedicated to creating thought-provoking artistic experiences that bring people together through theatre, conversation, music, and community. By championing new voices alongside innovative programming, Art Crush LA produces work that sparks dialogue, encourages curiosity, and inspires audiences to engage more deeply with the world around them.

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