Sara Guerrero on Directing THE SWEETHEART DEAL (video)
Tiffany Ana López, Ph.D., Dean and Claire Trevor Professor in the Department of Drama (pictured right), recently sat down with guest director Sara Guerrero (left) to talk about UCI Drama's upcoming production of The Sweetheart Deal, opening April 29 and running through May 7, 2023 in the Robert Cohen Theatre.
About the Artist
Sara Guerrero, a Chicana native of Mexican and Mestizo ancestry, is a versatile theatre artist and educator whose mission is to model, share, and create theater-making opportunities for and with their community. In her versatility, she has worked with many performing arts institutes within the greater Orange County and beyond.
A CalArts alum, Guerrero has been recognized as a “People to Watch” by American Theatre Magazine, “Best [Artistic] Director” and “Person of Interest” by OC Weekly, a 2022 Congressional Woman of the Year (46th district), 2020 and 2021 Woman of Distinction (Senate District 34), 2020 Hispanic Lifestyle Latina of Influence Honoree, and Community Engagement “COVID-19 ArtistGrant” Awardee.
As the founding artistic director of Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble, the only Latina theater company in Orange County, Guerrero, and the ensemble, are artists-in-residence at California State University, Fullerton’s Grand Central Arts Center in downtown Santa Ana. Under Guerrero’s leadership, the organization serves as an incubator for voices that have been historically excluded in theater by providing free programming and guidance in the art of storytelling.
As a playwright, Guerrero’s recent Latinx/Latine coming-of-age, roller skating abortion play “Have to Believe We Are Magic” was a winner of Panndora Box’s Sweet Sixteen News Plays Festival, the Women’s Theatre Festival Occupy 2022, Teatro Vivo’s Latinx New Plays Festival 2021, a finalist for OC Centric Festival, and a partnership reading of Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble and Planned Parenthood of Orange & San Bernardino Counties. The play is available through the newplayexchange.org along with her other works.
As a freelance director, Guerrero works nationwide for the professional stage and higher education, including Chapman University, CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, and UCI Claire School of the Arts.
Guerrero is a member of The BIPOC Artistic Directors of Greater Los Angeles, Network of Ensemble Theatre, Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), Theatre Communications Group (TCG). She is a Board member of Arts Orange County, Fringe Benefits, and Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble.