Community Highlights: Meet Studio Luna

Today we’d like to introduce you to Studio Luna. They and their team shared their story with us below:

Luna is an ever-growing idea. A virtual think tank. 

An incubator for experimentation. 

A space for innovation. 

Luna and the people who architect its spine believe that theatre and storytelling are some of the best tools for bearing social change into our lived experience. 

Teatro Luna was founded in Chicago in June 2000 with an original ensemble of women from diverse Latina/Hispana backgrounds. In their words: 

“We came together because we realized that the stories and experiences of Latina/Hispana women were undervalued and underrepresented not only on the Chicago stage but beyond. We were also concerned that the few parts written for Latina women often went to non-Latina actresses. We felt that we had to do something. Our answer was Teatro Luna, Chicago’s first and only all-Latina theater.” 

The ensemble was focused on building shows as a collective, incubating single-author plays, and developing solo performances. This work always started by a simple act: “talking to each other about our lives, about our own experiences with the themes of the play or workshop and using our varied experiences as the starting point to create performances that speak to diverse Latina lives.” 

After several local ensembles came and went, through leadership transitions, and managing two physical cultural spaces came a moment that changed the trajectory of the organization forever. Five Lunas went where the company and its members had never gone before, self-producing a three-month International tour directed and produced by Alexandra Meda with the ensemble of Amanda de la Guardia, Maya Malan-Gonzalez, and Abigail Vega with the devised production of “Luna Unlaced” and single author piece, “Your Problem With Men” by Emilio Williams. 

The tour visited twenty-three cities in the U.S., and the production was featured at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, jumping headfirst into the thrilling adventure of festival life. 

The bug that was performing and viewing new work at Theatre festivals changed the people and their collective direction drastically as the idea of #LunaOnTheRoad grew to envisioning a future where Luna could have satellites in multiple cities with multiple regional ensembles. 

This period also marks the transition from a singularly Latina Ensemble to a Latina and Women of Color Ensemble. Festival-thirsty as ever, being selected as one of the 2014 National Encuentro Festival’s lineup with the West-Coast World Premiere of “Your Problem With Men” by Emilio Williams became a risky but delicious opportunity to bring several Lunas to Los Angeles for a year-long residency with The Latino Theatre Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center that would end with the world-premiere of Generation Sex in 2015, unofficially giving birth to Teatro Luna West. 

Five years of trying to operate in both Los Angeles and Chicago proved too much for the very under-resourced yet super-mighty team of women, especially when new opportunities kept bringing more of the Chicago Ensemble to the West. 

By the fall of 2018, Teatro Luna West put down roots at their new home in Boyle Heights, which launched with their signature program, Talking While Fckd: Live Storytelling Sessions (fka Talking While Female). The success from this monthly storytelling event that showcased women of color telling original stories around a theme launched a partnership with Audible, resulting in the Audible Original and Audible Latino, Talking While Female & Other Dangerous Acts: 25 Stories of Risk & Resilience by Teatro Luna West, co-produced by Christina Igaraividez and Alexandra Meda. 

Forever changed by the global pandemic, at the end of 2021, the ensemble reviewed their commitment to storytelling and being a space for learning and healing and re-emerged as Studio Luna, the third generation of the Luna ethos focused on cultural healing, storytelling, and eradicating oppression. Studio Luna advances beyond its legacy of Teatro Luna, a Latina Theatre Ensemble. Still housed on the same block but having moved a few doors down, Studio Luna embraces a makeover reflecting this new iteration of the ensemble. With a newly modified vision and values, the ensemble continues to grow and lead the field of collectively created, ensemble-generated work. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
While the road for Studio Luna has always been clear, smooth has not been the experience both as an organization and for the humans inside of it. Just shortly after opening the new Studio space in 2022, a break occurred, leaving the ensemble without any equipment or resources built up over the previous decade– but– hope remained. Hope to rebuild and replace all that was taken, but the emotional impact was much harder to rebuild. 

On that impact, Studio Luna Artistic Director Alexandra Meda shares, “We have had a history of lessons that only brought more lessons and running headfirst into walls and barriers. We have harmed each other, we have been harmed, and I believe that the most radical thing we can do is keep trying to grow. Keep believing in this mission and be better to ourselves and each other while upholding it. We have been failed by funders, we have been failed by each other, and by our culture. I still see this happening to Women of Color artists everywhere. So no, the road was not smooth. And likely never will be. But it doesn’t mean we get off the highway”. 

Heartbreak lives throughout the experience of maintaining and implementing the idea of an organization by and for Women of Color– an artistic home that is free of the fear of failure for every leader, every ensemble member, and beyond. But heartbreak builds muscles and bravery. It also creates space for healing and a joy that is deeply connected to those who have come before us. Luna’s hold tight to their values, one of which is “resiliency: the fortitude to bend, be stretched, but never break”. We don’t like to sugarcoat this: building something where there isn’t anything like it is hard enough on its own. Trying to do it in the face of blatant funding inequities, over and covert racism, oppression, and harm can crush you. While these experiences undoubtedly had great emotional and financial impacts, some of the deepest struggles the ensemble battles with is reigniting audiences after the full stop that was the Covid pandemic. We all lived in a state of fear that, to this day, continues to be shed. As an ensemble-based company, the dynamics of the group are often in flux, and through an out-of-this-world level of grit, the leadership team, the collective continue to produce events, digital resources, and support Latine & Women of Color storytellers, playwrights, thinkers, and builders. We will never be victims of the circumstances of the time we live in. We know the work we do is about building a future we might never get to experience. 

As you know, we’re big fans of Studio Luna. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Studio Luna is a virtual and physical center (currently based in Boyle Heights) that specializes in innovating and teaching creative collaboration and storytelling. As a national ensemble of Latinx femmes and Womxn of Color, they gather under the belief that artmaking is a healing force to be shared, collaboratively shaping stories by and about women of color that connect, liberate, transform, and are designed to animate actions that eradicate oppression. It is through a shared leadership philosophy that the collective is charged with holding sacred a brave space for risk-taking, radical transformation, and healing internally as an ensemble. 

The collective offers vibrant original performances, workshops, and classes through its Story Institute that will expand your imagination, activate your inner storytelling prowess, and harness your unique superpowers so you can consistently thrive at the intersection of creative growth and courageous curiosity. They share their space with community organizations and emerging and established creatives, teachers, and others who want to rent and partner. 

Hosting live events at their space in Boyle Heights might be the best and most challenging endeavor. Their season always includes their flagship program, Talking While Fckd: Live Storytelling Sessions, featuring original stories by women of color live and via their podcast. Each episode includes 3-4 story performances a night with audience participation, crafty activities that reconnect our bodies and minds, and surprises throughout the evening. If you are reading this, you are invited to submit yourself as a storyteller here. 

TWF highlights performances from writers to community leaders, students, creatives, and everyone in between. The storytelling platform has allowed audiences to better understand and empathize with issues that touch us from a hyper-local level to a global scale. The stories have also allowed for some much-needed laughs as tellers share, at times, embarrassing and funny moments that we all still can relate to. Studio Luna has changed the name of the show from Talking While Female to Talking While Fckd to encompass stories that go beyond the gender binary and to include the everyday adversities that marginalized people still face. Each episode is centered on a theme of the night, which inspires and connects all stories. 

In addition to the Audible Original, Talking While Female & Other Dangerous Acts: 25 Stories of Risk & Resilience, Studio Luna partnered with the Mexican production company La Corriente del Golfo (founded by Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal) in recording the Audible Original, Women of Fire (the English version of Mujeres Del Fuego), and self-produced, Not So Merry and Bright: A Christmas Mixtape featuring 12 richly entertaining and moving stories on solitude, financial pressure, erasure, absence, loss of loved ones, and more. 

Through Studio Luna’s online resources, discover a new way to process your feelings, invigorate your imagination, and activate your healing by using Studio Luna’s original writing prompts. For over twenty years, the ensemble has used writing prompts as a way to build original performances, teach, and heal collectively. They have designed a “30-Day” ritual for you to explore the power of writing to think, the power of writing to focus, and the power of writing to release, reflect, & heal called Words, Paper, Warmth. 

Who else deserves credit in your story?
The women of Studio Luna stand on the shoulders of legendary giants who blazed trails for Teatros and Latine artists in American Theatre. They honor the legacy of their mentor, Diane Rodriguez, with whom the ensemble found inspiration and guidance. Rodriguez was a force of nature as an actress, playwright, director, and producer. Her mark is left on American Theatre as she held the position as president of Theatre Communications Group Board and was also appointed to the NEA’s National Council of the Arts by President Obama. While her light shined far, her roots to the cause always held deep. In 2012, Teatro Luna had the honor of premiering her play, “Living Large,” a piece that, with Rodriguez, the group continued to revisit for many years. She passed in April of 2020, and her absence is still profoundly felt- both at Luna and across our entire theatre field. 

Reflecting on her eleven years with Studio Luna, ensemble member and creative producer Maya Malan-Gonzalez feels, “Our Artistic Director, Alexandra Meda, carries forth the fire and grace that Rodriguez moved with.” Through Meda’s leadership, the ensemble has toured internationally, gone beyond the stage to experiment with different media forms, and rooted itself as an ensemble that is dedicated to healing, storytelling, and eradicating oppression. Following in the footsteps of her mentor, Rodriguez, Meda continues to offer mentorship to developing artists and arts administrators. 

Studio Luna operates and continues to survive in great thanks to their volunteers and donors, and every single human that has passed through our doors, taken a workshop or joined us online. 

Studio Luna would not be possible without the many great artists, scholars, and lovers of storytelling that have made up the various ensembles and creative teams in their twenty-four-year history. Your wisdom and lessons live on. 

Contact Info:

• Website: holastudioluna.org
• Instagram: @holastudioluna
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Holastudioluna/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@holastudioluna
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@holastudioluna

Image Credits
Alexandra Meda