By Jorge Casuso
August 28, 2025 -- The City's Cultural Affairs will present Santa Monica Rep's youth play reading of Sandra Cisneros' classic coming of age novel "The House on Mango Street" on September 6.
The event, titled the Stage Speaks, offers an "opportunity to experience the magic of live poetry and performance in a beautiful outdoor setting" outside the historic Miles Memorial Playhouse at Reed Park.
The stage adaptation of the 1984 novel about "growing up and finding one's voice" is part of the cultural series Gather & Grow, which takes place biweekly on Saturdays from 4 to 7 p.m.
"The House on Mango Street," which won the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award in 1985, is required reading in middle schools, high schools and universities across the country.
The book -- which has sold more than six million copies and been translated into more than 20 languages -- was adapted into a play staged in Chicago in 2009 and an opera that received its world premiere at the Glimmerglass Festival in New York last month.
The Santa Monica Conservancy will offer free tours of the historic Miles Memorial Playhouse from 4 to 5 p.m. with performances beginning at 5 p.m.
Designed by renowned local architect John Byers in the Spanish Colonial revival style, the playhouse was completed in 1929 as a "public recreation hall for the young men and women of the city."
Nearly destroyed by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the building retains its original main floor, stage, chandeliers, sconces, proscenium arch, massive wooden beams and period fireplace.
"Gather & Grow invites the community to spend a day relaxing and playing in Reed Park while enjoying a range of artistic experiences," City cultural officials said.
"Each event offers a unique opportunity to engage in hands-on art making, take in the natural surroundings, and spend time grooving to music, watching incredible performances, and having fun with the whole family."
The Miles is wheelchair accessible and located at 1130 Lincoln Boulevard near the intersection of Wilshire and Lincoln Boulevards in Christine Emerson Reed Park, just north of the tennis courts.
