En Mi Jardín (In My Garden)

By
Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros
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A NoHo Arts theatre review of CASA 0101’s inaugural production of En Mi Jardín (In My Garden) – Healing with our Stories, a 10-minute new works play festival April 19 – May 12, directed by Emmanuel Deleage and Lorena M. Ortega, written by 13 playwrights and starring 14 actors. 

[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of CASA 0101’s inaugural production of En Mi Jardín (In My Garden) – Healing with our Stories, a 10-minute new works play festival April 19 – May 12, directed by Emmanuel Deleage and Lorena M. Ortega, written by 13 playwrights and starring 14 actors. 

CASA 0101 is a haven of creativity. It serves the community of Boyle Heights and beyond with its welcoming energy and its many unique workshops and classes in acting and writing. But I think their greatest gift is their productions. They pull magic from the actors who frequent CASA 0101 and the writers hidden within them. This year is the first year they have drawn from both these remarkable resources and have created En Mi Jardin, a 10-minute play festival.

I may not have written plays, but I have written and produced many short films and let me tell you, ten minutes might not seem long, but when you are writing and performing it’s a substantial length of time to fill with story and pathos and meaning, especially if you are just beginning your journey in art. 

A NoHo Arts theatre review of CASA 0101’s inaugural production of En Mi Jardín (In My Garden) – Healing with our Stories, a 10-minute new works play festival April 19 – May 12, directed by Emmanuel Deleage and Lorena M. Ortega, written by 13 playwrights and starring 14 actors. 

But En Mi Jardin’s 13 plays have all of that and much more. They are heartfelt and compassionate, energized and vivid, melancholy and hopeful. They tell stories that make deep contact with our hearts and our memories and our purpose. 

From childhood to old age and love to anger. They are the mirror of the human condition. If writing is therapy for the writer, then plays are therapy for everyone. Actor, writer, director and audience. 

A NoHo Arts theatre review of CASA 0101’s inaugural production of En Mi Jardín (In My Garden) – Healing with our Stories, a 10-minute new works play festival April 19 – May 12, directed by Emmanuel Deleage and Lorena M. Ortega, written by 13 playwrights and starring 14 actors. 

To be able to reach into your personal experience and create a play that heals you as well as entertains and empowers and gives voice to the voiceless is an extraordinary gift. CASA 0101 takes very seriously their role in the lives of their audience, patrons and working artists. You can tell by the quality of this work just how seriously. Through story we can heal, through sharing we can connect, and through theatre we can all come together in a dark space and watch ourselves through other’s eyes.

The plays themselves are all based on real stories and vary from a maid standing up to the racist ignorant family she works for, to a young woman refusing to compromise herself at the death of her father. Stories of visits from spirits of beloved grandmothers bringing hope, to facing the estrangement from families who refuse to see LGBTQ in their beauty. Some plays bring familiar characters, priests and nuns and ghosts a plenty and even a delightful Frida Kahlo. But no matter how the story is told in fun or in drama, they are all unique and true, and speckled with love. 

A NoHo Arts theatre review of CASA 0101’s inaugural production of En Mi Jardín (In My Garden) – Healing with our Stories, a 10-minute new works play festival April 19 – May 12, directed by Emmanuel Deleage and Lorena M. Ortega, written by 13 playwrights and starring 14 actors. 

CASA 0101 has also gathered a wonderful group of actors deftly able to convey the depth and the emotion of every story. There a quite a few laughs too of course. Life is comical as much as it is tragic and the nuance of that is not lost on any of these very capable storytellers and actors.

What a magical place CASA 0101 has become. So central to the theatre of L.A. as well as Boyle Heights and the Latino community, dedicated to inspiring future storytellers and audiences alike.

En Mi Jardín is a truly beautiful evening of important voices creating wonderfully rich and meaningful theatre. I absolutely loved every single play…bravo!! 

A NoHo Arts theatre review of CASA 0101’s inaugural production of En Mi Jardín (In My Garden) – Healing with our Stories, a 10-minute new works play festival April 19 – May 12, directed by Emmanuel Deleage and Lorena M. Ortega, written by 13 playwrights and starring 14 actors. 

Where: 

CASA 0101
2102 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90033

When:

April 19 – May 12

Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM, Sundays at 4PM

Tickets: 

Home

The Playwrights

En Mi Jardín (In My Garden) will feature 13 different 10-minute plays written by Martin Barrera (of Pasadena, CA), Bernadette Bolaños (of Los Angeles, CA), Christian Gama (of Hollywood, CA), Michelle Lopez (of Boyle Heights, CA), Itzel Ocampo (of Alhambra, CA), Martín Olvera (Deceased), Lorena Ramirez (of Inglewood, CA), Kerri K. Ramos (Monrovia, CA), Doreen Sanchez (of Hollywood, CA), Arturo Urista (of Monterey Park, CA), Connie Valencia, PhD (of Boyle Heights, CA), Yvonne Garcia Zaher (of Fontana, CA) and Juanita Zavaleta (of Highland Park, CA).

The Cast

Seventeen actors will be featured in 13 short plays.  The actors are:  Vanessa Arias-Herrera (of Los Angeles, CA), Martin Barrera (of Pasadena, CA), Michael Berckart (of Monrovia, CA), Bernadette Bolaños (of Los Angeles, CA), Chrissi Erickson (of Highland Park, CA), Christian Gama (of Hollywood, CA), Michelle Lopez (of Boyle Heights, CA), Steve Loya Hernandez (of Commerce, CA), Martin Morales (of Silver Lake, CA), Itzel Ocampo (of Alhambra, CA), Karla Ojeda (East Los Angeles, CA), Lorena Ramirez (of Inglewood, CA), Raquel Salinas (of {Pico Rivera, CA), Juanita Zavaleta (of Highland Park, CA), and CASA 0101 Theater Young Actors, Acolmixtli J.T. Ortega, Bella Calderon, Lucy Wetzel and
Etienne Deleage.

The Team

The production team for En Mi Jardín (In My Garden) includes:  Josefina López (of Boyle Heights, CA), Founding Artistic Director, CASA 0101 Theater; Emmanuel Deleage (of Silver Lake, CA), Director and Executive Director, CASA 0101 Theater; Lorena M. Ortega (of Huntington Beach, CA) Director and Co-Creator of En Mi Jardín; Connie Valencia, PhD (of Boyle Heights, CA) Co-Creator of En Mi Jardín; Kerri K. Ramos (of Monrovia, CA) Co-Creator of En Mi Jardín; Lorena Ramirez (of Inglewood, CA) Co-Creator of En Mi Jardín; Itzel Ocampo (of Alhambra, CA) Show Producer, Show Key Artwork Design, Projection Designer, CASA 0101 Theater Office Administrator and Social Media; Edward Padilla (of Boyle Heights, CA) Casting Director; César Retana-Holguín (of Northridge, CA) Set Designer; Mari Mercado (of East Los Angeles, CA) Costume Designer and Prop Master; Alejandro Parra (of Los Angeles, CA) Lighting Designer; Matthew Sanchez (of East Los Angeles, CA) Sound Designer and Qlab Programmer; Angelica Ornelas (of North Hollywood, CA) Stage Manager; Doreen Sanchez (of Hollywood, CA) Assistant Stage Manager and Wardrobe Assistant; Miguel Delgado (of Huntington Park, CA) CASA 0101 Theater Technical Director; Gabriela López de Dennis, Soap Studio Inc. (of Los Angeles, CA) Playbill; Jorge Villanueva (of Boyle Heights, CA) Maintenance; Mark Kraus (of Los Angeles, CA), CASA 0101 Theater Development Director and Webmaster; Oscar Basulto (of Boyle Heights, CA) Box Office Manager; Al Aguilar (of Los Angeles, CA) Production Assistant; Rudy Torres (of Los Angeles, CA) Production Photographer and Steve Moyer Public Relations (of Los Angeles, CA), Press Representative.