STAGED STORIES Episode #: OVERLOOKED

Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble presents

STAGED STORIES: The Live Streamed Series

Sunday, November 22nd @ 2pm/PDT 3pm/MDT 4pm/CDT 5pm/EDT

Ep #6: OVERLOOKED

An evening of fun, thought provoking, relevant new works, music, poetry and interviews -  a result of our commitment to holding space for artists in our community. This is a FREE event.

Donations made to this episode will be to support, community group, California Cultural Resources Preservation Alliance, Inc. (CCRPA) an alliance of preservation advocates including Native American descendants, scientists representing a number of fields, and people from all walks of life, working together for the preservation of archaeological sites and other cultural resources. We are specifically supporting their efforts to “Protect Puvungna” from California State University of Long Beach (CSULB) who has been dumping soil containing construction debris from a construction project located at the University.

Puvungna is a shared sacred site of the Acjachemen and Tongva of people: the original people of the coast. Puvungna is where many ceremonies and celebrations are held. They are in need of assistance with legal fees to stop these destructive activities. Any amount you can donate helps us. You may also donate directly to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/protect-puvungna.

THANK YOU. Puvungna is one of our most important sacred sites and the only local place we have to gather and pray. #protectpuvungna

(Warning: episode may contain mature language and content.)

More info or RSVP: www.breathoffire.org @boflte / #breathoffirelatinatheaterensemble

OVERLOOKED - An improvised homage to overlooked women in history.

Original idea and direction: Lorna Silva

Featuring: Mayanna Berrin, Samira Beija, and Serenity García

With poets

Elvia Susana Rubalcava

Jessica Delgado

Hosted by Angela Estela*  Q & A moderated by Diana Burbano*

Produced by: Victoria Yvette Zepeda* & Santi Sámano*

Graphic by: Ruth Veronica Madrid

Original music by Moises Vázquez*

Advisor/ Founding Artistic Director: Sara Guerrero*

More info, visit: www.breathoffire.org

Other community partners include:

Brown Bag Theater Company of UC Irvine www.brownbagtheatre.wixsite.com

@brownbagtheatre

Black Student Union of Garden Grove, Ca. @GGHBSU

California Cultural Resources Preservation Alliance

www.ccrpa.com

Staged Stories is presented by Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble a 501c3 non-profit organization supported by artists of our community, volunteers, and donors like you. We make every little bit count and happy and appreciative to accept your generous donation, on behalf of our community partners and groups, when you can spare it.  Donate here: https://www.paypal.me/breathoffiretheater

Or make checks payable to: Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble

Mail to: Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble

c/o Grand Central Arts Center

125 Broadway Santa Ana CA 92701

STAGED STORIES - ARTISTS, CAST, COMMUNITY PARTNER, & CREATIVE TEAM:

MICHELLE CASTILLO (#ProtectPungunvna - Community Partner) is an indigenous artist, community organizer, and family unity specialist from Anaheim, California. She is a 7th-generation descendant of the Acjachemen Nation. Michelle teaches healing workshops on family unity and indigenous culture throughout Orange County schools and community centers, specializing in teaching traditional healing medicine. California Cultural Resources Preservation Alliance, Inc. (www.CCRPA.com)  / https://www.gofundme.com/f/protect-puvungna.

LORNA SILVA* (Creator & Director / Overlooked) A native of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Lorna Silva is an improviser, actor, writer, translator, director and above all a storyteller. She is an ensemble member of Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble and Off the Tracks Theater. She graduated from the Second City Hollywood Directing Program in 2019. At Second City she directed her original sketch show Token Society, and was Assistant Director for the Bob Curry Fellowship Showcase and the Premium Show That’s the End of Our Time. She teaches improv in Spanish all over Los Angeles and Orange County.  @overlooked.improv

MAYANNA BERRIN (Actor/ Overlooked) is a writer, actor, and comedienne living in Los Angeles, CA. Previous credits include Super Dating Simulator (The Pack Theater), Reservoir Stage Hogs and Weird (Second City Hollywood). IG @mayannaberrin

SAMIRA BEIJA (Actor/ Overlooked) was Born and raised in Houston, TX, . She’s a proud daughter of Colombian and Honduran immigrants. Because she grew up surrounded by a mixture of vibrant cultures, she found herself drawn to music and animated self-expression. Her energetic and charismatic personality naturally gravitated her towards the arts at a young age. She’s a Second City Conservatory Graduate and currently a UCB Diversity Scholarship recipient. She has performed in many Second City Hollywood Premium shows , and plays the fiery Cristina on “South of Sunset” (Amazon Prime). When she’s not sharpening her craft , she’s letting her spirit free and Sazón flow somewhere on the mean streets of LA, throwing down some sick dance moves on any salsa dance floor she can find.

SERENITY GARCÍA (Actor/ Overlooked) is a Latinx comedian (NBC Bob Curry Fellow, Los Angeles Diversity in Comedy Festival Host), actress (Oh my Disney, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!), sketch and musical comedy writer (“KAREN” Music Video, winner of Austin After Dark’s Best Comedy Pilot) and a comedy teacher at The Second City.   She’s a musician, freestyle comedy rapper, a Story Pirate, an impressionist and graduate of The Second City and the Nerdist.  IG@positivelyserenity / Twitter @serenitygarcia

JESSICA DELGADO (Poet)  is an indigiqueer scholar and proud Chicana y Latina. She is a poet, a yogi, a healer and author. She has had the pleasure of performing with Breath of Fire many times and is an aspiring ancestor, educator and writer in the making. Follow on Instagram: @tzapotl_flores / Twitter: @Tzapotlflores

ELVIA SUSANA RUBALCAVA (Poet) is a Chicana, creative nonfiction writer, poet, playwright, director, producer, and teaching artist from Santa Ana, California. Elvia’s poetry has been published in Mujeres de Maíz flor y canto, Seeds of Resistance flor y canto, Sunday Jump, and others. Her short story Palomas was published last fall in the anthology Our Stories: A collection of personal narratives. Rubalcava is currently working on a collection of poetry called Writings Beneath my Tongue, as well as expanding her short plays to full length, and teaching a series of creative writing classes through the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council through 2021. Rubalcava credits her love of writing to all the storytellers in her family. elviasusanarubalcava.com / @chicanachingona

ANGELA ESTELA* (Host)  is a proud Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble and Board

member. Her work has previously been presented at Brown & Out Festival, Teatro Frida Kahlo, Ruth B Shannon Performing Arts Center, Breath of Fire Latina Theater, Jack Tygett Performing Arts Center, Casa de la Cultura de Tijuana, and most recently on Zoom. Angela gives thanks to las mujerxs de @boflte, her children Jaron & Trevor, y su mamá Lulú, for their

everlasting love and support.

VICTORIA YVETTE ZEPEDA* (Producer) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist from San Diego, CA. They are a UC Irvine Alum (Honors in Drama, 2019) whose career has driven them to decolonize American theater by pushing forward narratives for and about the Latinx community. Previously, they were the Artistic Director of Brown Bag Theater Company (UCI) from 2016-2019. Currently, they are an ensemble member for the following companies: Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble in Santa Ana, CA and Amigos del REP of San Diego Repertory Theater. As they continue to navigate their professional career and question the erasure of QTBIPOC artists, they would agree with Victory Garden’s former Artistic Director Chay Yew when he states, “...you need to break that [...] table down and build your own.” Their most recent credits include: Producer of Staged Stories: The Live Streamed Series (Breath of Fire), Assistant Director of American Mariachi (José Cruz Gonzalez, South Coast Rep), Director of Culture Clash in AmeriCCa (UCI), Mitra’s Suitcase (Yasaman Madadi, Frida Kahlo Theater 10-Minute Play Festival 2020), Bad Hombres, Good Wives (Herbert Siguenza, UCI), and Xicanas in Xicanalandia (Shanelle Darlene, Frida Kahlo Theater 10-Minute Play Festival 2019). Instagram: @_victoriazee

SANTI SÁMANO* (Producer / SM Tech) is a singer and actor from San Diego, California that takes a holistic approach to art and life. While their passion lies in singing and music, Santi is led by their curiosity to expand, learn and integrate as much as possible throughout their life. Santi’s greatest goal is to use their privilege to create a radically inclusive theatre company that entertains, heals, and empowers people of color at their varying intersections, emphasizing accessibility to queer and low-income communities. They are currently a fifth year at UC Riverside, studying Theatre and French and Assistant Director for UCR’s Latinx Play Project.

SARA GUERRERO* (Founding Artistic Director/ Advisor) ia Southern California native, is a professional, versatile theatre artist whose mission is to model, share and create theatre-making opportunities for and with her community. A CalArts alum, she has been recognized as one of the “People to Watch” by American Theatre Magazine, the “Best [Artistic] Director” and “Person of Interest” by OC WEEKLY, a 2020 Latina Influence Honoree,  a 2020 Woman of Distinction Honoree by California Senate, and a Community Engagement COVID-19 Emergency Artist Grant Recipient.

As the founding artistic director of Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble, an award-winning, Santa Ana-based group, she and the ensemble are artists-in-residence at Grand Central Arts Center of Cal State Fullerton (California). Under Guerrero’s leadership, the organization serves as an incubator for underrepresented voices in theater by providing programming and guidance in the art of storytelling.

Recently Guerrero directed Augusto Amador’s ATACAMA (Abingdon Theater, New York) and FRESNO (The Road Theater, Los Angeles), and Jennifer Maisel’s BUBBLE (The Road Theater, Los Angeles). This November, she’ll appear in Alvar Saar Rios' ON THE WINGS OF A MARIPOSA, Télalusa and in Diana Burbano’s FABULOUS MONSTERS, Women's Theatre Festival. During the pandemic Guerrero continues to direct, create, and produce through her ensemble and other theaters online.

www.teatroguerrero.com / IS @guerreroprincess / twitter @teatroguerrero

DIANA BURBANO* (Literary Director)  a Colombian immigrant, is an Equity actor, a playwright and a teaching artist at South Coast Repertory and Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble. Written work includes:  Policarpa, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Brown Swan lab 2017, Drama League Rough Draft series May 2017, Honorable Mention, Jane Chambers Award 2017, Parsnip Ship 2017 Fabulous Monsters, Latinx Play Festival, San Diego Rep 2017, Festival51 2016 winner, about women in Punk Rock,Picture me Rollin’ (featured at the 35th annual William Inge Festival and Inkfest at 2cents.), Silueta, (about the Cuban artist Ana Mendieta), with Tom and Chris Shelton, and the TYA Shakespeare mash-up, Caliban’s Island winner 2017 Headwaters New Play Festival at Creede Repertory. (Published by YouthPLAYS). Libertadoras, Vamping and Linda were written for the 365 Women a Year project and have been performed around the world, with Linda featured in more that 20 festivals over the last year, including Center Theatre Group’s community library series. Her short play Rounds Per Second is in Smith and Kraus’s 5-minute play anthology. She is currently writing material for Center Theatre Group’s Chisme y Queso series, for Rogue Artists Plummer Park project and for Kaiser Permanente’s Educational touring show. She has also been a working actor since leaving the Professional Actors Conservatory in 1991. She originated the roles of Ama de Casa in the Spanish version of Menopause the Musical, Thumb in Imagine, and Holo-1 in the Labors of Hercules. She recently played Ana Guerrero in Jose Cruz Gonzales' Long Road Today/El Largo Camino de Hoy Dialogue/Dialogos project at South Coast Repertory.  TV includes The People vs OJ Simpson, Cold Case, Betas.  She played punk Praetorian guard Viv in the cult movie musical, The Isle of Lesbos She manages Sleep Till Noon Productions and The Gourmet Detective. Diana is one of the original members of the writers circle for Latino Theatre Association/ Los Angeles. She is also a member of The Dramatists Guild and The Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights.

RUTH MADRID (Graphic Designer) is a playwright and screenwriter based in Los Angeles and Riverside. Her works include El Recalentado, Inolvidable the Musical, Una Hora Mas, and La Tormenta de Ayer. Her works have been presented by the Latinx Play Project, UCR Playworks, and the Company of Angels. Ruth aspires to write interesting and dramatic stories that are hardly seen on screen or stage. She is continuing to pursue her passions in writing for herself and her community. Follow @MVDRID

MOISES VÁZQUEZ* (Composer/Musician) is a musician and composer, proud Santanero, and community activist. He has composed and performed original music for South Coast Repertory, San Diego Repertory, Pacific Symphony, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Brown Bag Theater of UC Irvine, Costa Mesa Playhouse, Orange County New Play Festival, The Musco Center, SanArts, Arts Orange County’s Dia de Niño Festival, El Centro Cultural de Mexico, Latino Health Access, and the list goes on. Additionally, Moises composed and performed original music for El Largo Camino de Hoy / The Long Road Today by José Cruz González, inspired by stories of the Santa Ana community.

*Breath of Fire Ensemble