Reflections on Directing for Eastside Queer Stories Play Festival #ESQS2017 & A Word About Growing up Christian

This past summer I directed for Eastside Queer Stories Play Festival. When I received the pieces I would direct I jumped for joy! I was entrusted with two pieces: Bloom(dot)org (written by Veronika Shulman) and Genderprocity (written by Matthew Benjamin Ramos). The actors in this festival were incredible. They had multiple characters for eleven different plays, and they gave it their all. They brought their best selves to the table and worked so hard to honor all of the stories in the festival. I learned about the importance of personal pronouns, and challenged my directing style to smooth through beats in both comedy to drama. As a collective, we pushed ourselves to make the worlds come to life for all audiences to enjoy.

Theater proved to be a great platform to inform audiences and give them a window into the successes and struggles in the LGBTQIA+ community. Stories honored everyday lives, people falling in and out of love, individuals dealing with gentrification, fairy tales, and one of the pieces even had an alien invasion. Which touched at my nerdy heart strings to the core, I must say. Original work that is, without a doubt in my mind, the future of entertainment. Though I personally don't identify in the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, I have mad respect and love for this community.

You see, I was raised with old "Christian" thoughts that believed only men and women should be allowed to engage in romance, love, marriage, etc. As a teenager and later adult...I found these ideas to be false, and quite frankly toxic and harmful to society as a whole.  I have come a long way from that upbringing, and my amazing parents --- although surrounded by Christian beliefs themselves --- always taught me to respect everybody. From the principal at school to the beggar in the streets. Everyone deserves respect and love. Basically, they taught me to be kind.

Growing up as a young artist I began to add to this "respect and love" mentality towards my own life adventures. Sometimes I was in the right, sometimes I failed in my words and actions. Slowly but surely I began shedding away misconceptions and false ideals that actually contradicted to what I believed God was truly all about. At least the Big Guy I was talking to late at night in my room, when I was dealing with pimples and unrequited love. All I know is that everything comes down to one single truth: God is love. And the older I got, the more I realized that deep down under the guise of religion, this misconception was in fact harming everyone: people who thought they were fighting for God's principles, and people who were receiving the blows from those who had been deceived. Though I no longer attend church and consider myself Agnostic, I still believe in what my father and mother instilled in me: respect and love. It's not always easy, but it keeps me centered.

Fear of the unknown is a weird little monster, that, if not dealt with, can be harmful for the soul. Tolerance comes from educating yourself, and putting yourself in other people's shoes. I believe, as hard as it can be sometimes, we are meant to help each other in this world. Studies have shown that when you are of service, you are the happiest (Time Magazine: The Secret to Happiness Is Helping Others by Jenny Santi). Thankfully, since my early years of life, my family has grown too. Embracing queer family members who have had the courage to come out. Embracing friends who are in the process of their journeys. It's quite beautiful to witness.

There are so many survivors in this world, so many strong human beings who stand up to society and choose to be who they are through and through. I am in awe of them.

We all have so much in common, and although there are institutions, oppressive entities who want to keep us separated ... we must contradict, challenge the norm, find each other, see our commonality, and learn to respect and love each other.

This is why Eastside Queer Stories is such an important collective under the Q Youth Foundation non-profit organization. There are so many more incredible stories that need to be shared. Thank you Q Youth Foundation's Eastside Queer Stories for your mission, the work you do, and the voices you uplift. I see your future, it's beautiful and bright.  You are saving and healing lives. I look forward to the 2018 works. Whether I get to direct again or be a witness to the work, I will be there. I will stand by your mission with respect and love.

#ESQS2017 sold out 3 out of the 4 nights of performances. People are hungry for original stories in the LGBTQIA+ community; stories that don't stereotype and undermine complexities of identity. May the writers continue to create incredible stories, and may the work inspire people of all ages to accept who they are, through and through.

Genderprocity rehearsal. PC: Ana Bernal

Me in the director chair. PC: Ana Bernal