Since childhood, I have been intrigued by Renaissance Faires. Growing up in New Jersey I’d see commercials for the New York Renaissance Faire, ask my parents to take me -but we couldn’t afford it- so they never did. It wasn’t until 2017 that I visited this wonderland and was immediately hooked. Upon entering the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale, California, I knew I was home. My partner had attended this faire since its days in Agoura and once he discovered I’d never been, he made it his mission to take me. After exploring the village of Deptford we trekked back to our car. With my bellydance garb covered in sweat and dirt I gazed at my exhausted pirate and asked, “can we come back for my birthday?”
The following year when auditions were announced I signed up immediately. Back then auditions consisted of reciting a monologue, singing, improv, and a movement piece. At a long table sat a director from every guild with the head of faire in the middle. They laughed during my improv, gasped when I sang in Spanish, were entranced by my monologue and by the end of my movement piece I knew I slayed it. The head of faire scanned my resume and said, “I see you bellydance, is that something you’re comfortable performing?” I replied, “yes, of course,” and was cast.
Two seasons and a pandemic later I visited the faire as a patron in 2023. My best friend had been playing Shakespeare and pulled me aside after a show to ask me the question that changed my life, “Have you ever heard of Ana Caro?” He had studied one of her plays at UCLA and thought I would be perfect to play Ana the following season as a member of his guild. Intrigued by his proposition -once I dove into research- I recognized his motivations. Ana Caro de Mallén y Soto was the first documented professional female writer of Spain and a proto-feminist that defied patriarchy. As a proud Puerto Rican, Non-Binary and Queer artist it was easy to see myself in her.
My first season as Ana, I committed to representing her authentically. This meant performing in Spanish, something never done before in the sixty-four year history of this faire. There had once been a Spanish Court, but they weren’t necessarily composed of Spanish speakers, nor did they perform in the language. Much in the same way Ana fought censorship, I had to fight the skepticism of management, who were concerned patrons wouldn’t understand what I was saying. I quelled these worries as Ana would have and made pamphlets with translations to the pieces I performed available at the end of the show. However, it was rarely needed as many patrons walked by and often froze in their tracks upon hearing their language being spoken in this place they had never heard it before. Suddenly a once neglected audience now had poetry and comedy to enjoy and in exchange I found true fulfillment as a performer. My challenge was containing my excitement when patrons approached me after shows to ask, “what was the name of your play,” as they pulled out their phones, looked it up online and ordered it.
By my second season as Ana I realized the value of representing this trailblazer, -who despite being called “the tenth muse” by her peers- had been lost to the annals of history for being a woman who died in a plague. Due to unexpected reorganization by management, it became clear that if I wished to play Ana for a third season, I must join the Queen’s Court. Upon discussing this transition with its director, I made it known I wasn’t interested in becoming a part of the scenery. Understanding my passion for performance, she provided me with a time slot and artistic freedom. Thus “Teatro en Español” -the first bilingual show in the history of this faire- was born.
During a time of anti-Latiné sentiment from the government, it was imperative for me to provide a safe space and entertainment for Spanish speakers as well as representation in a positive way. Not as servants or criminals, but as a woman who -despite being born into slavery- built a career and achieved financial independence while choosing to be husband and child free. Ana used theater as a tool of resistance against patriarchal society and through her I found the purpose to do the same while building my confidence. Thanks to Leonor in “Valor, Agravio y Mujer” I was able to channel the rage from a heartbreak I had experienced and find the strength to move on. The greatest gift I received in my last season as Ana was the love of my faire family. My final weekend I was overwhelmed by participants sharing how my presence as Ana had impacted them and their love for the work I had done.
Ultimately, my aspiration was to continue building upon what I started as Ana and revive the Spanish Court, however due to the current administration’s classification of Trans/Non-Binary people as domestic terrorists and the rise of fascism, I fled the U.S. for my safety/sanity and now reside in the very place that Ana once called home, Seville, Spain. After years of studying her works, I am now able to walk in her footsteps, gaining a layer of cultural context that can only be achieved by witnessing it firsthand. The courage it took to make this move alone I learned from Ana’s characters; Leonor who crossed an ocean to regain her honor, Rosaura who defies fate by choosing her destiny, and of course Ana herself who never surrendered to the challenges she faced. My goal has always been to honor Ana’s legacy and restore it in Sevilla where I aim to start a walking tour portraying her. Lastly, I hope to have inspired Spanish speakers in the Renaissance Faire community to pick up the torch I left behind and keep bilingual entertainment alive.
I am a proud Puerto Rican, Non-binary, Queer, multi passionate artist. I studied Theater Education at the University of Puerto Rico: Rio Piedras and trained with The Actors’ Gang in Los Angeles, California. In 2019 I studied stand up comedy in Rene Percy’s “Women in Comedy” class at Flappers in Burbank, California and was on a steady climb till the pandemic happened and made mincemeat of my momentum. During the pandemic I discovered mermaiding and in 2021 I traveled to the Florida Springs to meet my mermaid idol Brandee Anthony (Verobeach Mermaid) who trained and PADI certified me as a mermaid. Over the course of my 40 years of life, I have been a professional ballroom dance instructor, an Xpole certified pole dance fitness instructor, a sex positive sex educator, a burlesque performer, host and producer of the longest running exclusively QTBIPOC cabaret show in Los Angeles, a member of a Danse Macabre performance troupe, a Shakespearean theatrical group, a professional belly dancer and so much more. My most recent accomplishment that I am proud of is being the first character in the 64 year history of the Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire to not only speak, but also perform on stage in Spanish as well as have a bilingual show. Due to the current administration’s position on Trans/Non-Binary people (we have been classified as domestic terrorists promoting radical gender ideology), anti-Latino sentiments and rise of fascism, I have fled the U.S. for my own safety/sanity and now reside in Seville, Spain.