Sofia Zaragoza
Storyteller │ Artist │ Activist
Sofia Zaragoza Directing Reel
The Odyssey: A Modern Adaptation
The Template Theatre Troupe
UCSD Theatre and Dance Department
January 2018-June 2018
March 2021-August 2021
Sofia Zaragoza's world premier production of The Odyssey was a devised adaptation in which Odysseus is an undocumented, queer person of colour who gets lost in the incarceration system after a #BlackLivesMatter protest. This modern adaptation grapples with themes of what it means to create a home in 2021 America amidst the current political landscape. The most recent production took place at The Template in which the audience was immersed in a nomadic experience where they experienced the show in 5 different locations.
This production was originally developed as Sofia's Honours Thesis at the University of California, San Diego. The devised process is based on practices of Viewpoints and Theatre of the Oppressed.
Empowerment Theatre
La Jolla Playhouse and Girl Scouts San Diego
June 2018- July 2018
June 2017-July 2017
June 2016- July 2016
June 2015- July 2015
Empowerment Theatre was a collaboration between La Jolla Playhouse and Girl Scouts San Diego aimed at empowering young women to become leaders of social change within our community. Each year an original full-length play was devised over a summer conservatory with 15-20 young women. Based within Theatre of the Oppressed, some forms and topics tacked within Empowerment Theatre included:
Verbatim Theatre and Gun Violence
Playback Theatre and Sexism
Forum Theatre and Racism
Spoken Word Poetry and Stereotypes
Whitelash
by Johnny Echavarria
Company 157
January 2018- May 2018
Whitelash is a world-primer hip-hop/rap musical developed through Company 157. Whitelash paints a vivid image of the 2016 election on a college campus, beginning with the rising tensions of the primary elections, where members of the Democratic Party become aggressively split between progressive and establishment candidates. We then proceed to the general election, where the divisions grow even stronger. Relationships are destroyed, all media becomes questionable, and even the people we thought we could trust can not be trusted. Whitelash catches a glimpse of social media wars, passionate protests, and the volunteer work that so many young individuals participated in around the 2016 election.
