Reflection: Directing BURRITO and collaborating with Mujeres!

Graciela Campos, Karina Contreras, Gareth , Ariely, Jordan
BURRITO cast

Writer Sarah Neal and I met at an Inner-City Filmmakers  (ICF) writing gathering at my house, and she shared her one act play BURRITO with the team. Then she followed up with "I would like to put this up, but I need a director..." to which I said, "I am a director!" So we put our heads together, and with a limited budget, and dreams in our fingertips we put together a performance with an incredible team of folks in our artistic communities. 

We got Graciela Campos aboard as producer and Social Media guru, Sarah and I leaned onto our beloved art spaces: Casa 0101 Theater and Art Division LA for support. And the entire thing was done within two months, with two performances to boot and a small video shoot of the theatrical performance. 

The production team and cast top left to bottom right: Rosa Navarrete (director), Graciela Campos (producer), 
Jordan Vazcones (actor),  Sarah Neal (writer), Suzanne Linares (stage manager), Karina Contreras (actor), 
Ariely Garcia (actor), and Gareth Imparato at Art Division after our last production. 

Rehearsals happened at my house until tech allowed us a couple of days in the Art Division space; holy smokes is their library beautiful! We got set pieces from our homes, that's my yellow couch there, that's Sarah's lamp, and Casa 0101 Theater provided incredible prop pieces that tied the work together nicely.  If you haven't heard of Art Division - I recommend you check out their website here - artdivision.org; it's a safe space for young artists in Los Angeles. We did our best and put a show up by our bootstraps and wing of our seats, making sure folks were happy and fed. It was a lot of work, but we did it as a team. I am so proud to have been in production meetings with Graciela Campos and Sarah Neal, our womxn power vibes were strong, and we manifested a lot.

The story is about a young womxn who took all the right steps in life, and still ends up laid off in the prime of her life. Though her family wants to support her, she finds herself alone as if no one is actually listening to what she has to say. It's a beautifully written comedic piece, and I am so proud to have been a part of its process. When womxn gather, look out! Because nothing can stop us.

I also want to give a shout out to our Friday night opening featured comediennes - Vanessa Gonzalez and Christine Medrano. You ladies killed it. Click on their names to follow them on instagram and check out all the incredible things they have been up to lately. We are so lucky to have had them as part of our show, and for that I have to thank the amazing Danielle Perez - whom I met at a fundraising cabaret show for UTM's Urban Legends performance. She is such a supporter of the arts, and knows how to help her sister comediennes out. When womxn help each other -- LOOK OUT WORLD!

Honestly, it took me a while to write this post because I had to really think about all the amazing things we accomplished. In the hustle and bustle of things, sometimes we don't notice. But we did a lot, and we worked hard, and our actors and guest performers were incredible. Thank you Sarah and Graciela for being an awesome production team. Thank you Ariely Garcia, Graciela Campos, Karina Contreras, Gareth Imparato and Jordan Vazcones for committing to this show and killing it every performance.  Also special shout out to the musicians who gave our opening night some life, mucho abrazos LAS CANAS MUSIC. Until next time y'alls!


* I encourage you to click on the names of the artist to get acquainted with their work.