Reviewed by Amalisha HuEck
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
This is the show that makes one think about who we are, why all the experiences and challenges we go through, why every life story and its journey is so complex and full of all kinds of emotions.
Before the show started Josefina López, the Creator of STAND IN THE LIGHT – A Solo Show Festival, who is also a Co-Producer, Playwright and Founding Artistic Director of CASA 0101 Theater, gave us a few words. She said, ‘All theatres have ghosts,’ and interestingly – as she said, that one light started blinking, and it throbbed constantly throughout the first act. Spooky, annoying & exciting!
Consisting of fifteen plays, fourteen actors, and seven directors, a four-week run at CASA 0101 Theater in the Gloria Molina auditorium, 2102 East First Street in LA, the festival is being produced in English and Spanish. Program A was in Spanish, Program B (LGBTQ) is in English. The festival runs from August 21 to September 13, 2026.
Brown & Out & Fabulous! – Program B (LGBTQ)
This night At Casa 101 and their multigenerational space four solo acts were performed in Program B. All of them were directed by Corky Dominguez, whose directorial expertise brought the best out in each of the actors. I was blown away with dedication, emotional connection and how their life stories were written and presented.
All the pieces are super personal, expressing fear, pain, and the feeling of being lost. How difficult it is to be honest with their parents and family members, who just wouldn’t understand. The challenges they encounter with their neighborhood and friends. Their love for glittery stuff, beautiful colors, gorgeous dresses, scarfs … They love dressing, dancing, singing … And they all want to be loved.
Vistiendo Santos (Dressing Saints), written and performed by Jesus Yanez takes us into the world from his birth to a time being. It seems as if when he was born, they gave him a canvas and a brush and he started to paint his life. Dreaming of having a fabulous life is universal dream of every kid. But something happens to our dreams as the time goes by. They get altered, twisted, and distorted. When Yanez became a caregiver for his elderly mother, he wondered if he should cry in English or in Spanish. And why does he need to hide homosexuality? It is a natural thing for him. Dancing alone is his escape. When he dances, he feels most loved. His movements were so free when dancing alone graciously.
Uninvited, written and performed by Eugene Antonio Negrete expresses his experience of the time that took for him to even say the word – GAY. He wondered, why are we all born into a family without any warning, and we must manage to survive then, somehow. He has never been himself around his mom and dad. He didn’t know where to go, who to talk to? Which direction to go because everything hurts. How to hide from this world is all he wanted to do. Then he met Alejandro, and the feelings of who he is felt really good. On the question of why he doesn’t have a girlfriend, he would find excuses like, ‘I am just focusing on my studies.’ ‘Act your age,’ they would say … He wondered, ‘What does that really mean?’ Negrete digs deeply into the difficult task of being gay and shows how emotionally challenging that can be.
Committed, written by Claudia Duran, performed by Gabriela Pedraza explores how life can be overwhelming. She likes men, but she doesn’t want to be stuck with one. Getting married to a cheating husband and being tied up for many years until kids grow up. No, that does not sound appealing to her. But we see that the connection with her mother is very deep… they are so committed to each other … to the point that she became a mother to two girls overnight without having sex. Her two little sisters came under her care, because her mother could not take care of them. Seriousness and the trauma of the situation got her to become diagnosed with PTSD. By having horrifying nightmares and being overwhelmed by the responsibilities, the vocal pain exploded from her chest. Connected on the cellular level, her cry is real, her scream penetrates and touches everyone. Powerful performance, Pedraza never – even for a moment – lost the deep emotional connection. She is totally committed to her act.
Re-Born Again, written by Abel Alvarado is performed by Julian Armaya. Being born prematurely, he was placed in the incubator. His name in Hebrew means breath, and it was considered that if he’s breathing, everything is good. When he was 19, he fell in love over the hills – with a boy. For a good church boy, that was a huge shame, which would kill his mother, if she knew. He didn’t have any other choice but to be in a secret relationship. Illusion of protection that makes one a prisoner is terrifying. It was very liberating when he finally came out and became himself. He also explains his experience with meth and ecstasy and how mom and his family members helped him through the rehab. He realized how much it means to him when he can call his mom, whose soothing, calm voice calmed him down and got him to get into balance and harmony. He is also totally emotionally involved with the material presented. Everyone’s strong choices are appreciated.
All those spike markings on the stage floor are remarkable, so precise and perfectly done, they make an art of their own. Their director Dominguez, situated on the left downstage, with a table full of musical instruments, is watching and assisting them with musical cues. His sharp eye and his expertise show the power of craft through actors’ performances.
Brown & Out & Fabulous! Program B (LGBTQ) runs on August 22nd at 8:00 pm, August 23rd at 3:00 pm, September 4th at 8:00 pm, September 5th at 3:00 pm & September 6th at 7:00 pm. There is 10 minutes of intermission.
OMG, I MARRIED A NARCISSIST! – Program C
This Festival of Solo Shows is a celebration of Latino actors and their stories. By demonstrating their range of cultural experiences in the United States, and getting beyond the stereotyped and usual tropes, they reveal the humanity of Latinos today. They are proud of who they are, and they present their stories with dignity and pride.
The world premiere of OMG, I Married A Narcissist! written and performed by Yelba Zoe McCourt, and directed by April Ibarra is one of those stories. She gets liberated by letting go and letting God take over, standing in the light and telling the truth.
When a Catholic annulment compels a Latina nurse to reconnect with the charismatic Hollywood actor she once married – a chapter of her life she thought she left behind – she tumbles back into a whirlwind of movie premieres, celebrity encounters, magical signs, and enough red flags to wallpaper Manhattan.
Playwright Yelba Zoe McCourt said: “OMG, I Married a Narcissist! is inspired by lived experience but transformed through humor, magical realism, and theatrical imagination. The play explores love, illusion, faith, identity, and the journey of reclaiming one’s own voice after losing oneself inside someone else’s story. While deeply personal, it asks universal questions about healing, resilience, forgiveness, and hope.” By relieving the experiences McCourt bravely pours her Soul out about being saved and finding her identity.
OMG, I Married A Narcissist! remaining performances include Saturday, September 12th at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday September 13th at 3:00 p.m. Running Time is 69 minutes; there is no intermission.
LATINOS R*US – PROGRAM D
Sharing the fragments of their life stories, either of their own or adapted ones, during the festival, we realize that we all have a mission, while on this physical plane, and we all carry a particular load. Nobody’s life is easy. We all have deep wounds and huge stones to overcome during our journeys.
‘Life is so hard, sometimes you just have to fake it,’ says Miriam Peniche in her solo-act FAKING IT, which she wrote and performed in it. With amazing ability to tap into her emotions she is sharing with us a piece of her life, when her feelings, her dreams, her inspiration, had to be put in the box in order to deal with the challenges. When she was nineteen, her mother was diagnosed with cancer. When she was twenty-six her dad had permanent kidney failure and had to do dialysis. Life has not been easy for her. Looking at the picture of her mom and dad, at the time when they were happy, looking into each other’s eyes with so much love, broke her down to pieces. She is such a strong actress, with powerful ability to touch everyone.
Dr. Tomas Avila Carrasco taps into multiple characters in world premiere of LATINO LICIOUS L.A., which he wrote and directed. Transforming from the mind of Professor Dr. Tomas Avila Carrasco, who presents a lecture on Chile Studies, into Aztlan’s Most Dangerous Chicanos – Saddam Jose and Dr. Dennis Sabelovo Todo, he successfully finds voices for all these characters and portrays them skillfully. Corky Dominguez (Festival Co-Producer and Director) assisted him in co-directing it.
In CONFESSIONS of a SEXY LATINA EXORCIST, which is written by Josefina López, Creator and Artistic Director of CASA 0101, and directed by April Ibarra, sexy, spicy Latina and exorcist Lydia, played by actress Christiana Leucas helps people with paranormal problems and has a passion for vanishing demons. She hates dating and she is bad in picking man, because ‘normal,’ nice men are boring. She doesn’t mind being a one-night stand, but she is afraid of ending up alone. She is hot. All in black and super sexy, with strong voice and fantastic acting abilities, she is holding the full attention of everyone.
For this one woman show, López said, ‘I wrote Confessions of a Sexy Latina Exorcist to share some of my paranormal experiences and create a complex character that would be challenging for a Latina actress who normally only gets to play the role of a sexy woman. I wanted to combine supernatural elements with comedy and make it contemporary by dealing with the difficulties of dating when you’re also an exorcist.’
All the great ideas, fantastic acting and simple staging have another piece on this festival, written by Josefina López and directed by Carmelita Maldonado. The world premiere, HOLLYWOOD CHOLO, is performed with ease by Alejandro Bravo. He has a case against LAPD. As an actor who only gets cast as Cholos on TV and Hollywood Films he has to go to therapy to deal with his PTSD after he got shot in the buttocks by an LAPD officer who mistook him for a real cholo who is wanted by police. Playwright Josefina López says about her inspiration for this play, ‘I wrote Hollywood Cholo to give an actor who mostly gets cast as a Cholo in Hollywood films and TV an opportunity to show their acting range and an opportunity they may never get in Hollywood.’
LATINOS-R-US – Program D runs September 11th at 8:00 pm, September 12th at 3 pm and September 13th at 7 pm. There is a 10-minute of intermission.
Free parking is available on several streets surrounding the theater. Limited parking is also available at the Boyle Heights City Hall Parking Lot located at 2130 East First Street (at Chicago Street) by entering the lot from Chicago Street.
To get the tickets to this program, and learn about all the programs, call the Box Office at 323.263.7684, E-mail tickets@casa0101.org and/or visit www.casa0101.org