Santa Ana's All-Latina Theater Ensemble Remembers COVID-19 Victims With Touching Virtual Monologues

Musco Center for the Arts will close off the second part of this year's virtual Heartbeat of Mexico festival on Wednesday, May 19 at 7 p.m., with an online performance of the COVID-19 Monologues, a series which memorializes the lives of people who have passed from COVID-19.

This @THEMUSCO Heartbeat of Mexico event features an original new version of the widely applauded COVID-19 Monologues in an online performance. This series of poignant stories celebrates the lives of ordinary people who passed away due to COVID-19, illustrating their lifetime with intimate detail and reflective insight. The short, touching performances, consisting of words, music, video and photos, illustrate different people's lives with grounding, intimate details and soaring insight.

The COVID-19 Monologues is a project created by Breath of Fire, a theater ensemble based in Santa Ana and composed of only Latinas. Their mission is to foster an environment where underrepresented voices can flourish by providing free workshops that teach storytelling, playwriting, producing, and acting and by providing representation, opportunities and leadership roles in the community. They have become an award-winning company with more than 20 world premieres.

The COVID-19 Monologues can be streamed on Wednesday, May 19 at 7 p.m. on the Musco Center for the Arts Facebook and YouTube.

To date, this past year's 31 @THEMUSCO-Online events have featured 120 artists and garnered more than 35,000 views. The series was created in 2020 in response to the first COVID-19 lockdown as a temporary alternative to live events with the focus of staying connected with Musco Center audiences. The series was expanded in the fall to provide diverse artists a platform for amplifying new perspectives and further shaping community conversation to inform more equitable participation, access, and engagement for all people.

"Listening to the music and stories of the extraordinary @THE MUSCO artists coupled with the exuberant response of our audiences created a bright path through the pandemic and the abrupt escalation of the social-justice movement following the death of George Floyd," said Richard Bryant. "As a result, we are now on course to significantly expand the work with surrounding communities we began five years ago with the launch of Heartbeat of Mexico."

Musco Center's annual Heartbeat of Mexico multi-stage festival has celebrated traditional and contemporary Mexican and Mexican-American culture since 2015. The event has incorporated indoor, outdoor, and online programming, featuring artists such as Natalia Lafourcade, Lupillo Rivera, and Jesse & Joy, along with numerous mariachi bands and folklórico dance ensembles. The festival is presented in association in partnership with Chapman University's Latinx Staff & Faculty Forum, which was created to provide support to Latinx students, staff, and faculty through member connections with the Chapman and Orange County community.

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