upcoming events & Courses

History Comes Alive at SVMA: Last West, A Theatrical Reimagining of Dorothea Lange’s California 

In Last West, poet and playwright Tess Taylor invites us to journey through the landscapes and legacies of Dorothea Lange, whose photographs changed how America saw itself. Nearly a century after Lange documented displacement, migration, internment, and survival across California, her images remain strikingly urgent. Last West responds to that urgency with poetry, story, and light.

Staged amid a moving backdrop of Lange’s photographs—both iconic and rarely seen—Last West unfolds as an intimate, image-rich performance inside the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art. Adapted from Tess’s hybrid book of the same name (published in collaboration with MoMA), the piece invites audiences to hear voices gathered across time: Lange’s, the people she photographed, the poet retracing her steps, and our own.

Directed by Ciera Eis with haunting projections by Ryan Yu and a multidisciplinary creative team, Last West asks us to bear witness—to what we inherit, what we remember, and what we dare to imagine.

Funded in part by a Carnegie Mellon ColLABo grant and created to honor the 90th anniversary of the WPA, Last West is a meditation on art, justice, and the act of paying attention.

Each ticket includes admission to the concurrent museum exhibition Last West: Dorothea Lange’s California Revisited.

performance dates

friday, november 7
student matinee, 11am
”preview” evening show, 5pm

Saturday, November 8
"World Premiere" Evening Show, 5pm

Sunday, November 9
Afternoon Matinee, 1pm

Friday, December 5
Student matinee, 11am

Saturday December 6
Afternoon matinee, 1pm 
Evening Show, 5pm

Sunday, December 7
Afternoon matinee, 1pm 

Tess’s new book Come Bite will be published in 2027. For publications and readings, contact Tess.