Directing Work by Cambria Herrera
Our Dear Dead Drug Lord by Alexis Scheer
Crave Theatre Company
What do teenage girls do with all the rage, fear, pain, love, humor, passion, and loss they feel after going through unthinkable tragedies and watching how the grown-ups coped again and again with violence? Set in their “larger than life” early 2000s girlhood treehouse, four private high-school girls form a dead leader’s club where they attempt to summon the spirit of Pablo Escobar himself. Our Dear Dead Drug Lord asks us to consider how we take from, harm, and shrink down girls. How do they cope, heal, or reclaim from this harm? What would it look like if they were big, bad, and took back what was theirs?
Scenic by Alex Meyer, Lights by Sophina Flores, Costume by Alyssa Ridder, Sound by Aleks Hollis, Props by Drew Dannhorn, Photos by Jacob Spiers
blu By Virginia Grise
UC San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance
A play about whether a family living in a barrio can stay together and choose life, hope, and each other despite gang, military, and domestic violence. A young mother, Soledad, wrestles with what family can mean in the face of death and divorce. Her two-spirit partner reminds her of ancient traditions of reclamation and her 14-year-old daughter creates new realities through dreams of resurrection, offering Soledad a way forward. blu is a poetic re-telling of the eternal struggle between desire and war, violence and peace, and the sun and the moon. Performed underneath the telephone wires with a live DJ curating oldies, hip-hop, salsa, reggaeton, spoken word, and indigenous dance as we asked, “Why do we keep killing each other and our own dreams?”
Choreography by Ulises Aguirre, Gabriella Marie Johnson, Dr. Jade Power-Sotomayor, and Daniel Ureña, Assistant direction by Lula Britos and Steve Llamas, Scenic and Projections design by Michael Wogulis, Lighting design by Elba Emicente, Costume designer by Grace Wong, Sound designer by Padra Crisafulli, DJ mixing by Nic Rodriguez-Villafañe, Production stage management by Karina Ortega, Photography by Michael Wogulis, Elba Emicente, and Manuel Rotenberg
Fifty Boxes of Earth by Ankita Raturi
UC San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance
As a creative response to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Fifty Boxes of Earth asks us to consider the heavy costs of leaving a home to put down new roots. An immigrant from a distant unnamed country, Q, awakens the ancient powers of nature to grow what the locals see as mysterious and queer plants. Through Q’s negotiations with the community garden manager and his eleven-year-old daughter, we are challenged to learn from the mistakes and traditions of our ancestors and look forward to how we can make a better future for the next generation. This Production was set in San Diego, CA with a plant-life ensemble moving in a style adapted from traditional Balinese dance to further explore questions of “life”, “immigration”, and “other”.
Choreography by Michelle Huynh, Scenic Design by Raphael Mishler, Costume Design by Euihyun Song, Lighting Design by Shelby Thach, Sound Design by Ethan Eldred, Stage Management by Stephanie Diana Carrizales Photos by Russel Chow and Manuel Rotenberg
In The Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney
UC San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance
This take on Yerma by Federico García Lorca, recontextualized to a predominantly Black, Louisiana housing project is heavily inspired by the Orishas of Yourban cosmology. It centers a woman coming of age, who with the speed of the wind on the track and undeniable grit fights the pressures around her to create her place in the world. Through story, movement, ritual and song, we connect the eternal nature of gods, humankind, and the elements, asking, “Can the young and feminine survive a world that teaches them to sacrifice for others but nothing about loving themself?”
Movement, Song and Percussion by Juan Carlos Blanco, Stage Management by Gillian Lelchuk and Caleb Cook, Scenic Design by Raphael Mishler, Costume Design by Natalie Barshow, Lighting Design by Caroline Andrew, Sound Design by MaeAnn Ross, Photos by Natalie Barshow and Manuel Rotenberg
Twelfth Night or What You Will by William Shakespeare adapted by Cambria Herrera and Ursula Meyer
Classroom Production at UC San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance
In this queerer adaptation, Cesario, who was once called Viola, uses his quick tongue and bravery beyond his years, to seek truth for himself in the strange new city of La Jolla. After shipwreck, he pursues a fresh start with a new name, style, and pronouns. When he accidentally falls in love with the handsome TikTok creator who employed him, he tries to hide, sing, or talk his way out of his truth. In this topsy-turvy romantic adventure, Cesario learns if time will untangle the truth and empower him to be exactly what he wills to be.
Ensemble prop and sound design. Costume Consultant: Jason Chien, Stage Management: Abby Stein and Shaila Sarathy, Photos: Grayson Heyl
Town Hall by Caridad Svich
Zoom Production by UC San Diego Department of Theatre and Dance
Four actors playing searching characters, or maybe just a version of themselves, guided us in a night of dreaming... From the comfort of our own living rooms, the performers offered us brutally honest conversation, memories of joy, secrets of shame, challenging questions, and their heart songs to reimagine how we behave in the theatre and the world. Town Hall asked if, during the height of a global pandemic: can we still dream? Can we begin to form a plan for a better world? How we are “us” and how we can move forward after all that’s happened?
Promo Image Graphic Design by Elizabeth Barrett, Scenic Design by Michael Wogulis, Lighting Design by Harrison Foster, Sound Design and Composition by Salvador Zamora, Costume Design by Zoe Trautmann, Stage Management by Allison Bailey and Jared Halsell
Yellow, Yellow, Yellow
Red Balloon Theatre Collective with Sam Reiter and Cambria Herrera, 2019
Ensemble devised from the key inspirations: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, surrealist paintings and poetry, medical documents from turn of the century asylums for women, “The Arch of Hysteria”, and the history of the American Circus. The result was a fully immersive, gender-queer circus experience. It began with cotton candy, popcorn, and lots of laughs and ended with questions about abuse, loss, and grief.
Costume Design by Erin MacGillivray, Scenic Design and Movement Direction by Claire Aldridge, Photos by Lauren Parker Photography
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Penguin Productions, 2019
Produced in Oregon wine country, this production focused heavily on the female, queer, and organic elements of Shakespeare’s text. Capulet and Lady Capulet’s characters merged into one. The Prince was a Princess. Benvolio was deeply in love with Romeo. And we listened closely to the nightingale and the lark.
Photos by Lauren Parker Photography.
The Little Mermaids Project by Juliana Gonzalez and the Ensemble
Enso Theatre Ensemble
A modern retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid devised by an all female creative ensemble. This adaptation was a coming of age story for three young mermaids overcoming tragic obstacles to pursue their dreams on land.
Photos by Lauren Parker Photography, Lighting and Scenic Design by Kacy Hughson, Costume Design by Alyssa Rands, Sound Design by Amberly Orr
The Balkan Women by Jules Tasca
George Fox University, 2016
I chose a play that addresses the role of religious prejudice and rape as weapons of war to present at the Christian institution: George Fox University. Talk back discussions were held nightly with students, faculty, staff, and community members unpacking the power of the story for George Fox University.
About The Balkan Women: Samira and Amina Jusic, two devout Muslim women, find themselves in a Serbian detention camp for Muslim women in the midst of the Balkan Wars. Serbian, christian soldiers are their prison guards. The Balkan Women explores what happens when the leader of this camp discovers one of the captors he despises is his own daughter. Based on Euripides' The Trojan Women, it is a dynamic meditation on fear, love, war, assault, and forgiveness.
Photos by Lauren Parker Photography, Lighting Design by Kacy Hughson, Costume Design by Alyssa Rands, Sound Design by Nathan Ayers
Proof By David Auburn
Valley Repertory Theatre, 2015
Proof is about a mathematic genius falling apart at the seams; at first you think it’s Robert. Then you learn the genius was his daughter, Catherine, all along. We held two talk-back discussions engaging the community about the issues of the play: one on ‘caring for a loved one with mental illness’ and another on ‘the struggles and the future for women in STEM fields’.
9 Lives by Nicole Greene
Outlook Collective, 2015
Over the course of three months, four theatre artists created a tender love story on a back porch and rooftop. On a warm summer night, the process culminated in a performance that challenged the audience’s notions of female friendship, mental illness, and the fight it takes to forgive those who hurt you most.
Photos by Lauren Parker Photography, Lighting and Scenic Design by Courtland Sheritt, Sound Design by Amberly Orr
Eleemosynary by Lee Blessing
George Fox University: Second Stage, 2014
Eleemosynary is about womanhood and a family that spans generations. The shelves of George Fox University's library created a perfect backdrop for this story of a young spelling bee champion and the single mother and grandmother who shaped her life.
Photos by Lauren Parker Photography, Lighting Design by Kacy Hughson, Costume Design by Alyssa Rands, Sound Design by Amberly Orr
Third and Oak: The Laundromat by Marsha Norman
George Fox University: Second Stage, 2013
Norman's one act play became an event when staged in an actual laundromat. At 10:30pm, buses transported students from campus to the local laundromat for a night of theatre. They listened to a 1960's soundtrack and received a bottle of classic coke with their admission. The audience electrified the laundromat and the actors brought them to the 1960s with two women from opposite worlds fighting for love and understanding.
Photos by Lauren Parker Photography, Costume Design by Alyssa Rands, Sound Design by Amberly Orr
