Chula
August 7
CHULA
produced by Alexandra Lainfiesta
August 7th
Synopsis
CHULA is a bilingual, one woman Guatemalan-Canadian show to the tunes of a 1980’s musical. It follows the story of Aria, a 1.5 generation, Guatemala-Canadian classical singer. After disconnecting from her mother for years, Aria goes back to Guatemala to meet with a series of other relatives she hopes to reconnect with. The only challenge? These relatives only speak Spanish. Aria only speaks English. A coming of age story full of joy, humour and heart.
meet the team
Alexandra Lainfiesta (she/her) – Creator & Performer
Born and raised in Guatemala, Alexandra is a multiple awards winning actor and up-and-coming writer. She is a graduate of the Canadian College of Performing Arts, Studio 58 and most recently obtained her Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Victoria. As an actor, Alexandra has worked across Canada with companies such as The Stratford Festival, Arts Club Theatre, Citadel Theatre, Theatre Calgary, Bard on The Beach, Freewill Shakespeare, Rice&Beans, Frank Theatre, Theatre Gargantua, Electric Theatre Co., Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington DC), and Puente Theatre. In 2022, Alexandra was one of the eleven individual recipients across British Columbia to be awarded The Lieutenant Governor’s Platinum Jubilee Arts and Music Award. As a writer, her first full length-play Bella Luz was commissioned by the Arts Club Theatre Company’s Silver Commission, and her first one woman show CHULA is being supported by the fabulous artists of Theatre Gargantua and Rice&Beans Theatre. This one is for my mama and tías, the pillars and heartbeat of my life.
Pedro Chamale (he/him) – Director & Dramaturg
Pedro Chamale was born and raised on treaty 8 territory, colonially known as Chetwynd, BC and now creates on the unceded and traditional lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. He completed the acting program at Douglas College and then received his BFA in Theatre Performance from SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts. He then went on to form rice & beans theatre with Derek Chan. Pedro is a director, playwright, performer and current Artistic Director of rice & beans theatre. He was the Artistic Resident at Neworld Theatre in 2014, guest curator of the 2018 rEvolver Festival and one of the playwrights in the 2019 Playwright’s Lab at the Banff Centre. Pedro was part of the second cohort of Banff’s Arts and Culture Leadership, is a co-founder of the Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition, sits on the Latinx Theatre Commons steering committee and was part of Director’s Lab North in 2020. He was also awarded the young alumni excellence award in 2021, along with Derek Chan, for their work with rice & beans theatre from Simon Fraser University’s FCAT department. In 2023 Pedro was a nominee for the BC multicultural and anti-racist “Breaking Boundaries” award for which he is grateful to be recognized for the work he has done both personally and at rice & beans. His latest play Peace Country was recently published by Playwrights Canada Press.
