Mission

“I am a Mexican-American woman, child of immigrants, born between two worlds, straddling two sides, both belonging and not belonging. I raise up Latinx voices, whether that is through the story, the playwright, or putting my own queer Latina feminist lens on the canon. I am passionate about new plays by, with, and for the Latinx community that complicate how both people from outside our community and from within perceive different Latinx cultures, histories, peoples, and experiences. I am an activist through my storytelling and it is my way of making social and political change. I bring social justice issues to the forefront through theatre and the stories I tell. People of Color are complex, and we need stories that are as complex as we are.

I am passionate about work that is multilingual, whether that is bilingual through English and Spanish, or even trilingual, with English, Spanish, and American Sign Language. My work explores identity and belonging throughout many underrepresented communities. I tell stories that center BIPOC, Queer, immigrant and undocumented, disabled and neurodivergent voices. Physically, my work is very much based in the sensual and the body, through dance, movement, and connecting to story and characters through the actor’s body. Visually, my work is imagistic and dream-like. I am inspired by worlds that take a step into the magical and hyper-theatrical, nearly fantasy. But the reality of the stories in these worlds are no less grounded than a play rooted in realism.

Theatre is a space for healing, and that means getting all of it out onto the stage – the good, so-called bad, and everything in between. Creating, performing, and witnessing theatre is a way to get any thoughts and feelings directly in front of your own eyes, separate from yourself, so that you are able to see it all clearly and in full color, similar to what a therapist does in cognitive behavioral therapy. Theatre is a place to process trauma through the ‘other’ to help move your own story forward. I love stories about humans with difficult pasts and choosing to love them through that pain. If we can love this imperfect human onstage, why couldn’t we love our messed up family? Our neighbors? Our enemies? Ourselves?

I believe in radical inclusivity and in creating open, safe spaces to explore creativity freely, be our weird, nerdy, strange selves, and embrace our uniqueness through performance and production. This reverberates throughout our communities, our cultures, and our world.

Theatre was the first place in the world where I felt I belonged. As a director and educator, I teach and tell stories about people who don’t ‘belong’ but actually do belong. Then we can all remember we are not alone in this world.”