Sponsored by The Mills Family Foundation
MEET THE PLAYFEST PLAYWRIGHT DIANA BURBANO
“Beheading Columbus“
By Diana Burbano
Directed by Edmarie Montes
Performance: November 4, 2023
Time: 5 pm
An interview with Caroline M. Hull
Please give us a brief description of your script, and tell us what the inspiration was for the title.
It follows two sisters down a trail of DNA deception that makes them face race and colorism in the Latinx community and in their own family. I was already thinking about this play. And then I think it was 2020 when on Indigenous People’s Day, Columbus Day, people started pulling down Columbus statues. And I especially was intrigued by a couple of them, they actually went ahead and took his head off and just left headless statues. I thought that was pretty amazing. So, it just came straight out of something that happened. And I thought that’s really interesting and intriguing.
What would you say your writing process is typically like? If you had to describe it, are ideas usually serendipitous, or more methodical?
My ideas – a lot of them come from my own life and from my relationships with my siblings or my mother. A lot of them come from my own life, but only enough to sort of inform the characterizations, because a lot of them also come from things I hear. Like, one story came from me listening to a podcast – I won’t give it away. But it came from a podcast. And I thought…interesting. So, most of my plays have come from listening to something on the radio or reading something, and just being intrigued by it, and then doing a lot of research about it. Before I start to write, I read everything I can about the topic I’m interested in writing about, especially if it’s something that I don’t know that much about, personally.
Did you plan on becoming a playwright? Or did you fall into it?
I started writing because I had a child, and I wasn’t getting any roles. I was originally an actor. And I thought, you know, maybe we can write something for ourselves, and we can, you know, take our boy and do some performing. But then when I started writing, I realized that I liked it so much more than being an actor. And I really love writing parts, especially for Latinx women. Like there are all of two in the traditional canon that are actually good and interesting parts for Latinx women. So, I thought, okay, maybe I’ll just do that.
Who would you say are the most significant creative or artistic influences in your life?
My main influences are probably Paula Vogel and Sarah Ruhl. And Octavio Solis, I think those are the three writers that most have always interested me and have always been very inspiring. If you could guarantee that audiences could take away one thing after seeing your play, what would it be? I think for me, it would be that maybe it would expand their worldview about what it means to be Latinx. Because I think, unfortunately, in the media, we’re fed sort of one line about the immigrant struggle and about poverty. And sometimes what we see is very stereotypical. I always write with an eye to hoping that the audience will see that there are other ways to view the Latinx experience in America. I generally write about immigrants too, but I write about them, I think in a little bit of a different way.
If you had any general advice for creative storytellers, whether they’re from marginalized communities, or just want to get a fresh start in the world of playwriting, what advice would you give?
Don’t be afraid to dig into your own experience. And tell the truth as you see it. Don’t be afraid that you’re going to hurt other people’s feelings. Just write, write what you have to write, and you can figure out the rest afterward.
What about the PlayFest development process excites you the most?
Well, one of my favorite things is getting to meet new collaborators and just digging into the work with somebody who maybe doesn’t know it as well as I do. And I learned so much from the actors and from the director and what they saw in the play. And sometimes I think if they’re not aligning with what I’m seeing, then let’s dig into the writing and see how I can make it clearer. Let’s see what needs to be changed. I just love working with new collaborators.
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About Diana Burbano
Diana Burbano was named as part of the Los Angeles Times’ “La Vanguardia” 2022. She is a Colombian immigrant, a playwright, an Equity actor, a teaching artist, and a Literary Manager. Diana’s play Ghosts of Bogotá premiered at Alter Theatre in 2020, just before the pandemic shut down. Ghosts was produced at the Actors Theatre of Charlotte in 2022. Sapience opened at Moxie Theatre in San Diego in 2022. Fabulous Monsters, a Latinx Punk Rock play, premiered at The Public Theatre of San Antonio, featuring the music of FEA in 2023. She was in the Geffen’s Writers Lab in 20-21 and has commissions with Center Theatre Group, Artists Repertory Theatre, Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble, HERO Theatre, and Livermore Shakespeare Festival. Residencies include Marfa Live Arts, Milagro Ingenio, Workshop Theatre Lab at Echo Theatre, and the Mercury Company Artists Repertory. Diana has been awarded the Advance Gender Equity in the Arts Grant 2022, the Bay Area Rella Lossy Award, the Long Beach Arts Council Professional Artist Grant 2019, 2020, and was a 2021 Jane Chambers Awardee for excellence in Feminist Playwriting. She currently represents Southern California on the Dramatists Guild council.