[NoHo Arts District, CA] – CASA 0101 Theater will present the world premiere production of Josefina López’s latest play, Eléctrico, directed by Corky Dominguez, as part of CASA 0101 Theater’s ongoing 25th Anniversary Season.
About Eléctrico
Eléctrico is the story of a white passing electrician, Raymond Brown, set in the spring of 1910 a few months before the Mexican Revolution began in a small town in Texas, 62 years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, close to the Mexican border. Brown is caught in a racial struggle between the whites and the Mexicans when he discovers the real reason why the electricity went out.
Josefina López, playwright of Eléctrico, said: “As a Mexican-American playwright and screenwriter, I feel I have a responsibility to tell the stories of my people, which might not otherwise be told, or worse yet, forgotten or overlooked by history. After reading the book, The Forgotten Dead, written by William D. Carrigan and Clive Webb about the lynching of Mexicans in the southwest, I was compelled to write my play, Eléctrico, a historic feminist Western drama. My goal in writing this play is to unearth the truth about a part of U.S. history that has been buried and forgotten, along with all the dead who are part of this ‘American’ story. I needed to write this play to begin this uncomfortable conversation that needs to be had and understood.”
Corky Dominguez, director of Eléctrico, said: “It is my hope that our production of Eléctrico will totally immerse our audience members viscerally, aurally and visually into the storyline playing out on the stage. Although the characters and plotline of the play are fictional, the subject matter which Josefina López’s play is based on is 100% true, and actually happened in Texas in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but, for the most part, has been forgotten by history.”
Emmanuel Deleage, producer of Eléctrico, said: “CASA 0101 Theater is thrilled to present Josefina López’s latest creation, a feminist western, as the centerpiece of our 25th Anniversary celebration. It is a story rooted in the past and as relevant today as ever.”
The Cast
Actors Robert Moris Castillo (of Silver Lake, CA) Raymond Brown, a white electrician, the titular role, and Corina Calderon (of Mission Hills, CA) Adela Borrega, an indigenous Mexican widow, lead a cast of 12 actors. Featured members of the cast include: Sonia Aguirre (of Whittier, CA) appears as Luz, a Mexican woman; Casara Clark (of North Hollywood, CA) as Darlene Tracy, a white Texan Saloon Girl and as Eliza Brown, Raymond Brown’s deceased wife; Andrew Laughery (of Los Angeles, CA) as Gerald Painter, a white Texan male and as Owner of the Imperial Hotel and Saloon; Dustin Loomis (of Carthay Circle, CA) as Sheriff Andrew Stevens, a white Texan male; Francisco Rivas Medina (of Eagle Rock, CA) as Juan Carlos, a Mexican male farmer and as a Corridos Singer playing Guitar; Alessandro Mendoza (of Hollywood, CA) as Justino Borrego, a Tejano Mexican male and as Adela Borrega’s husband; Jeremiah Ocañas (of Boyle Heights) as Don Miguel, a Mexican male and as a local Priest and as Understudy for Raymond Brown; Ryan Padilla (of Irvine, CA) as Bernardo Borrego, a Tejano Mexican male cowboy and rancher, Justino Borrego’s brother and husband to Maria Teresa Borrego/and as Pablo, a Mexican cowboy; Sierra Pérez-Gelbman (of Studio City, CA) as Maria Teresa Borrego, a Tejana Mexican female, Adela Borrego’s sister-in-law, married to Bernardo Borrego, and Timothy Willard (of Hollywood, CA) as Jack Powers, a white Texan male, as a Saloon Bartender and as a local Jail Guard.
The Team
The production team for Eléctrico includes: Josefina López (of the Boyle Heights) Playwright and Lyricist for Corridos Songs, Founding Artistic Director, CASA 0101 Theater; Emmanuel Deleage (of Silver Lake, CA) Producer and Executive Director, CASA 0101 Theater; Edward Padilla (of the Boyle Heights) Casting Director and CASA 0101 Theater Board Member; Corky Dominguez (of Boyle Heights) Director; Angelica Ornelas (of North Hollywood, CA) Stage Manager and Sound Designer; Maia Melendez (of South Los Angeles) Assistant Stage Manager; César Rentana-Holguín (of Northridge, CA) Set Designer; Alejandro Parra (of Burbank, CA) Lighting Designer; Anthony Storniolo (of Los Angeles, CA) Projection Designer; Patricia (Mama J) Tripp (of Northridge, CA) Costume Designer; Doreen Sanchez (of Hollywood, CA) Wardrobe Assistant; Audrey Szot (of Pico Robinson, CA) Prop Manager; Miguel Angel Delgado (of South Gate, CA) CASA 0101 Theater Technical Director; Mark Kraus (of Los Angeles, CA), CASA 0101 Theater Development Director; Itzel Ocampo (of Alhambra, CA) CASA 0101 Theater Marketing and Operations Manager; Gabriela López de Dennis, Soap Studio Inc. (of Los Angeles, CA) Graphic Designer and Program; Jorge Villanueva (of the Boyle Heights) Facilities Manager; Oscar Basulto (of the Boyle Heights) Box Office Manager; Al Aguilar (of Los Angeles, CA) Production Assistant/Foyer Designer; Rudy Torres (of Los Angeles, CA) Production Photographer and Steve Moyer Public Relations (of Los Angeles, CA), Press Representative.
Eléctrico Talk Back Sessions
Talk Back Sessions will be held after 3:00 p.m. Sunday Matinee performances of Eléctrico on October 12 and 26, 2025 for ticket buyers. The first Talk Back Session Q&A to be held on Sunday, October 12th will be led by playwright Josefina López in conversation with Dr. Stewart Davenport, a professor of history at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, about the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The second Talk Back Session Q&A to be held on Sunday, October 26th will be moderated by director Corky Dominguez; panelists and further information will soon be announced.
About Dr. Stewart Davenport and The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
After growing up in Birmingham, AL, Stewart Davenport went on to receive his Ph.D. in History from Yale in 2001. He is currently Professor of History at Pepperdine University, teaching courses in American History from the Revolutionary era through the Civil War, approximately 1750-1880. In his scholarship, he likes to pick topics that are ethically pressing in the present, but whose origins are deep in the past and thus open to historical exploration.
Dr. Davenport’s first book, Friends of the Unrighteous Mammon: Northern Christians and Market Capitalism, 1815-1860 (University of Chicago Press, 2008) explores the tensions between capitalism and the values of America’s Christian culture in which it flourished. His second book, Sex and Sects: The Story of Mormon Polygamy, Shaker Celibacy, and Oneida Complex Marriage (2022, UVA Press), was inspired by the gay marriage debate in the early 2000s and recently won the Communal Studies Association’s Timothy Miller Outstanding Book Award. He and his wife Mary, and children, Shiloh and Archer, live in South Pasadena, CA.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which was signed on February 2, 1848, formally ended the Mexican-American War, resulting in Mexico ceding over half its territory, or about 525,000 square miles, to the United States in exchange for a $15 million payment and the assumption of $3.25 million in debts owed to U.S. citizens. This massive land acquisition included present-day California, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma. The Treaty established the Rio Grande as the border between Texas and Mexico, altering the lives of Mexicans in the annexed territories and contributing to the divisive political debate over the expansion of slavery in the United States, which ultimately contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War.
Playwright Josefina López and Director Corky Dominguez will be curating a historical timeline of the time period in which Eléctrico is set. The timeline will be available for theatergoers to view in the lobby of CASA 0101 Theater prior to performances of the show.
The My Experience y La Tuya, (My Experience and Yours) Exhibit
Concurrently, during the run of the show, Eléctrico, a FREE art exhibit featuring artist Arthur Carillo, entitled My Experience y La Tuya, (My Experience and Yours) curated by Jimmy Centeno, will be on display in the Jean Deleage Art Gallery, located in the lobby of CASA 0101 Theater. Arthur Carillo said, “My mission is to uplift and give my community strength through my paintings by creating artwork that highlights our culture and social experiences.” The exhibit can be viewed prior to performances of Eléctrico, and during Art Gallery Hours, which are Tuesdays through Fridays from 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
More About The Playwright, Director and Leading Actors of Eléctrico:
Josefina López (Playwright and Founding Artistic Director of CASA 0101 Theater) is best known for authoring the 1988 play and co-authoring the 2002 Sundance Film Festival Audience and Jury Award-winning film Real Women Have Curves, which were the source materials for the 2025 Broadway production of Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, which garnered critical acclaim and 12 award nominations, including “Best Musical” nominations from the New York Drama League and Outer Critics Circle, as well as nominations for the New York Drama Critics Circle and two Tony Award nominations.
López started her writing career at 17 and has had her many plays produced throughout the country. López’s first short play, Simply Maria or the American Dream was filmed as a PBS special and won a Gold Award from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and an Emmy AwardÒ.
Other plays include: Confessions of Women from East L.A.; Boyle Heights; Remembering Boyle Heights I and II, Hungry Woman in Paris; Detained in the Desert (which was also made into a feature film); Trío Los Machos (now in development as a musical); A Cat Named Mercy; Piñata Dreams; Drunk Girl; Lola Goes To Roma; A Cat Named Mercy; Hpysteria; A Woman Named Gloria; An Enemy of the Pueblo, Queen of the Rumba, Electrico and the 2025 award-winning film, 20 Pounds To Happiness (Eat. Love. Joy.) which López executive produced and wrote. Her most recent project was a 10-minute play called Fernandomania Forever, which was part of CASA 0101 Theater’s recent Sold Out Run of FERNANDOMANIA, A Short Play Festival Celebrating the Life and Legacy of the late Major League Baseball Player, Fernando Valenzuela.
López has been working as a professional screenwriter for over 30 years, with many established producers like Norman Lear and Jaime Paglia to bring Latinos to television. She has been the recipient of dozens of awards and accolades, and has penned seven books as an author. López is the Founding Artistic Director of CASA 0101 Theater in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, CA (founded on April 1, 2000). Learn more at: www.Josefinalopez.biz.
Corky Dominguez (Director) (of Boyle Heights) has over 40 years of theatre experience as a producer, director, choreographer, performer, writer, and theatre teaching-artist. He has worked with several Los Angeles professional theaters and educational institutions. He is an advocate for youth-oriented theatre programs. Directing credits at CASA 0101 Theater include: Remembering Boyle Heights Part 1 & 2, An Enemy Of The Pueblo, Unmasking Hercules, Eastside Heartbeats, Bad For The Community, Piñata Dreams, Hungry Woman, Real Women Have Curves (20 Year Anniversary and Los Angeles Premiere productions), Midnight Marauder: A New Year’s Eve Masquerade Murder Mystery Show, Hoop Girls, Tamales De Puerco (2008 Production), When Nature Calls, and with the LGBTQ Brown and Out Festival: Dona Conception, My Perfect Boyfriend, The Baby Cries, Miercoles Loves Luna, Frankie & Johnny, Forever Young, Young Dudes, L.U.G., and Twinks & Boobs MC. Corky Dominguez has also directed CASA 0101 Theater’s and Brown Fist Productions’ critically acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and CASA 0101 Theater’s World Premiere productions of Josefina López’s Queen of the Rumba and A Woman Named Gloria.
Robert Moris Castillo (Raymond Brown, a white electrician, the titular character in Elétrico) is a Chicago-raised actor who found his calling on the Second City stage. After high school, he packed his 1997 Honda Accord and drove out West. Early on, he discovered meaning and purpose in the craft of acting. He has stayed busy in work ever since. He currently lives on the Eastside of Los Angeles, and enjoys exploring all the history the city has to offer.
Castillo’s television and film credits include: Doming Springs, Doll Family, Disco Inferno, City of Angels, City of Death, Fair Weather Road and Web of Life. His Theatre credits include appearances in the plays, Lost In Yonkers; George & Emily Get Married; Art, Love, and Love; I Can Hear You, Damn It; A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Not Here. His Commercial, Print and Industrials include work with: Hertz, Disney, Budweiser, Ford, Samsung, RDI, World Oil, Perfect Snacks, Toyota, Anta and Hoka.
Corina Calderon (Adela Borrega, an indigenous Mexican widow) was last seen at CASA 0101 Theater in the World Premiere of her play, CORINA: FROM LAP DANCE TO SUNDANCE in November/December 2023. Calderon is an American actress best known for her role as Jazmine in End of Watch (2012), directed by David Ayer and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña. She was born in Moline, IL and is the eldest of three girls to Mexican-American parents, Nora Martinez and Robert Calderon, a musician. Calderon started performing Ballet Folklorico at the age of four in a group led by her Grandmother. At 15, she began waiting tables in order to pay for acting classes and headshots.
Calderon subsequently started to attend theater classes at Austin Community College in Texas, but then went on to study with Mona Lee Fultz, Ben Taylor and Van Brooks at Two Chairs Studio. While taking acting classes, Calderon continued to pursue dance and joined a dance team for a local Hip-Hop radio station. Before moving to Los Angeles in 2011, with the help of Sally Allen and Toni Cobb Brock, Calderon booked her first lead role in the Sundance Film Festival-nominated feature film, All She Can (2011). She was named Breakout Actress of The Year and Actress to Watch at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival on www.deadline.com for her leading role. The Hollywood Reporter recognized her performance as “An auspicious debut as a leading lady.” She was also praised by director Amy Wendel as “Someone who will go on to show the world something interesting.”
Corina Calderon was then nominated alongside Gina Rodriguez, Eva Longoria and Eva Mendes for Best Film Actress at the Imagen Foundation Awards in 2012 for her performance in All She Can. In 2014, she had a recurring role on the TNT hit series, Murder in the First, created by Steven Bochco and starring Taye Diggs. She also landed a lead role alongside Emmy AwardÒ-nominated actor Richard Cabral in Khal the Killer in 2017, released by Millennium Films. Calderon then appeared in the highly anticipated DC/Warner Bros. motion picture, Suicide Squad in 2016 under the direction of David Ayer. Recently Calderon appeared in the Robert Rodriguez film, Hypnotic with Ben Affleck and Alice Braga, and she appeared as one of the leads in a short film, Situationship, which won Best Screenplay at the Mexican American Film and TV Awards. In 2026 she will appear as a lead in the film, Angeleno directed by Juan Diaz.
About CASA 0101 Theater:
CASA 0101 Theater, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded 25 years ago by Founding Artistic Director, Josefina López, author of Real Women Have Curves, in 2000 to fulfill her vision of bringing art and live theater programs to Boyle Heights. From its humble beginnings in a former bridal shop, CASA 0101 Theater has established itself as a leading arts venue for Los Angeles’ East Side, currently offering year round theatrical productions and classes in dramatic writing and acting for youth and adults. CASA 0101 Theater is dedicated to providing vital arts, cultural, and educations programs in theatre, digital filmmaking, art and dance – to Boyle Heights, thereby nurturing the future storytellers of Los Angeles. CASA 0101 is named such, as casa means house of home in Spanish. 0’s and 1’s are the binary language computers use to operate. CASA 0101 Theater was founded at the dawn of the digital age, when digital cameras started appearing and moviemaking became accessible to more people. Early on Josefina López taught digital video classes. Though the organization subsequently focused its energies on theatre and not digital filmmaking, the name stuck.
CASA 0101 Theater is supported in part by The State of California, Los Angeles County Department of Arts & Culture, National Latinx Theater Initiative, Herb Alpert Foundation, Perenchio Foundation, The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, California Arts Council, U.S. Bank, The Herb Block Foundation and the David Lee Foundation.
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