Intrepid Theatre

UNO Works features new work in development from local and BC artists. This year’s edition is curated by Mercedes Bátiz-Benét. Tickets for this double bill showing of new work are by donation, with a suggested minimum of $10.

A Distancia
Created & performed by Regina Ríos

A Distancia is a one woman show that explores the immigrant experience and the unexpected consequences that come with it. Through a comical and heartfelt exploration of a girl’s coming of age, themes of identity, belonging, and prejudice arise. A quick journey through Mexico, The United States and Canada brings endless discoveries, but also questions that perhaps cannot be answered.

La Mujer Fragmentada (working title)
Created & performed by María Escolán

La Mujer Fragmentada (working title) is a bilingual performance piece exploring historic and current violence and forced migration in El Salvador. Through a collaborative multidisciplinary and bilingual devising process, the piece uses projection, dynamic titling, and video editing to explore these themes. Drawing on the histories and lives of Salvadoran women inside and outside my own family, I seek to draw connections across time and geography, giving presence to experiences otherwise left al olvido. The experiment of La Mujer Fragmentada is an attempt to remember historic/contemporary colonial ruptures – from one’s self, one’s land, and one’s family.

“María and Regina are two young Latina theatre artists with a great deal to say. I’ve had the great pleasure of mentoring them both for a little while now, and I believe they have important perspectives to add to the cultural conversation of our community. UNO Works is a platform that can challenge them to grow, but it can also challenge us, as an audience, to grow as well — to incorporate unfamiliar points of view, to experience life as others live it, through the experience of theatre.” – Mercedes Bátiz-Benét

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About the artists:
Born and raised in Mexico City, Regina Ríos moved to the traditional territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən People, colloquially known as Victoria in 2017 to further develop her artistry as an actor, singer, dancer and creator. She loves to collaborate and wants to create new work that pushes boundaries and speaks about her unique immigrant experience and her multicultural identity. She graduated from the Canadian College of Performing Arts and obtained her Bachelor of Performing Arts Degree from Capilano University in 2022. She most recently was seen performing an abridged version of her (still in development) one-woman show A Distancia in the 2021 SKAMpede festival, which was first developed through Mercedes Bátiz-Benét’s mentorship in Puente and Intrepid Theatre’s ConVERGE micro-residency.

María Escolán (she/her) is a queer theatre artist from El Salvador living on the unceded traditional Coast Salish Territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Recent work includes workshop showings of her work in development La Mujer Fragmentada (working title) with Aluna Theatre’s CAMINOS Festival and DBLSPK with rice & beans theatre. Recent performance collaborations include New Societies with re:current theatre, Dusty Foot Productions’ Attachments excerpt for Rumble Theatre’s Tremors Festival, Rumble Theatre’s online production of B, and translation work includes an excerpt publication of Corazón del Espantapájaros by Hugo Carrillo in the online journal Asymptote. María holds a BFA Degree in Theatre Performance from the School for Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University and a BA Degree in Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice from the University of British Columbia.