WAYWARD READS

Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble in collabration with The Wayward Artists Voices to present WAYWARD READS.

A night of two new one-acts by Orange County’s Elvia Susana Rubalcava and Baylee Shlichtman.

"These two plays speak to the different ways that we as humans take our pasts and try to move forward into the future. Both plays touch on how wounds can be passed down from father to daughter, but with such beautiful, opposing tones. I hope that audiences can feel how we are gathering the fire through powerful stories about these women written by two fantastic playwrights."  - Melanie Queponds, director of the two play readings

WHEN: SAT. MAY 20th @ 7:30 PM PDT

WHERE: 125 N. Broadway, in Downtown Santa Ana in the Grand Central Arts Center Building

One-Acts:

THREE CONVERSATIONS WITH MY DEAD DAD by Elvia Susana Rubalcava

Vero finally unpacks the boxes from her dad’s house, only to find old books, pictures, and memories aren’t the only things spilling out of them.

WILT by Baylee Shlichtman

Evan is on the run. When he wraps his car around a tree, he’s rescued by two very different sisters and taken to their house. It's a place where objects appear at will, the walls are loud, and the flowers have their secrets. And then there's the stuffed elephant from his past that just won't go away.

About the Writers:

ELVIA SUSANA RUBALCAVA is a Chicana, writer, director, producer, teaching artist, and award winning playwright & filmmaker, from Santa Ana, California. Elvia started her theater life as the board president of Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble. There she debuted as a director and producer collaborating with Decolores Queer Orange County in Queer Latin@Monologues, stories that came from a series of writing workshops Rubalcava led. Since 2010, Elvia has written, directed, and/or produced for Casa 0101 Theater (Chicanas, Cholas, y Chisme, Teatro Moz, & Drunk Girl), Teatro Frida Kahlo Theater, Short & Sweet Hollywood Play Festival, and recently at the LatinoTheater Company. Rubalcava’s short plays, including November 8th, Fluffy Homegirls, and Our Voz have traveled to New Orleans, Tijuana, and throughout California.

Elvia is currently working on transitioning her scripts to screenplays and supporting storytellers through her production company Poco a Poco.

Rubalcava is also the executive director of the Fullerton Museum Center, an award winning pop culture museum in Fullerton, California.

For more visit elviasusana.com and follow her at @chicanachingona and @poco_a_poco_prod on Instagram.

BAYLEE SHLICHTMAN is a writer from Orange County, CA. She has had her work read or developed with AlterTheatre Ensemble, Dramatic Question Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre/ LA, Long Beach Playhouse, Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative, Nelson Hall Theatre, OC-Centric New Play Festival, Orange County Playwrights Alliance, Phantom Projects, The Playground Experiment, and The Skeleton Rep(resents). Baylee has been a winner of the inaugural Curtis Theatre Amplify Initiative, a winner and a finalist for the OC-Centric New Works Festival, a finalist for Spectrum Theatre Ensemble’s Neurodivergent New Play Initiative, and a semi-finalist for the inaugural William S. Yellow Robe Jr. Residency. She graduated from USC in May 2020 with a B.A. in Journalism.

Wayward Voices:

Wayward Voices is a space to amplify, uplift, and empower BIPOC artists. Our goal is to produce work that inspires and activates artists and artists in development. Wayward Voices will be the foundation of The Wayward Artist's commitment to producing work that reflects the truth of our existence and to tell the many stories that are ready to be let loose into the world.

Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supported by our leadership, artists of our community, volunteers, and donors like you. And, continues to strive to support its mission and to serve as an incubator for voices historically excluded from theater and the stage by providing programming that offers guidance in the art of storytelling, writing, and playwriting. These workshops bring seasoned writers, playwrights, and artists to facilitate high quality theater making workshops for local Orange County and surrounding residents, online and in-person, at no cost. No one is ever turned away for lack of experience.

Breath of Fire, located and part of the Artists-in-Residency program of Grand Central Arts Center of Cal State University Fullerton, in Downtown Santa Ana, makes every little bit count and happy and appreciative to accept your generous donation when you can spare it. Please consider donating in 2022 to support our FREE programming to our community online and in-person! Donate here: www.paypal.me/breathoffiretheater