{"id":485052,"date":"2026-10-04T19:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T19:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/485052\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T19:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T19:30:10","slug":"breath-of-fire-celebrates-10-years-of-tending-the-flame-by-publishing-anthology-of-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/485052\/","title":{"rendered":"Breath of Fire celebrates 10 years of tending the flame by publishing anthology of work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble<\/a> began, the vision was to create a space where voices that historically have been excluded in theater could be heard. The Santa Ana-based volunteer-run nonprofit organization is a grassroots, community-driven theater ensemble that empowers Latinas and other marginalized groups through writing and theater workshops and plays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are called Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble, but really we are open to everybody,\u201d said Sara Guerrero, Breath of Fire\u2019s founding executive artistic director. \u201cNo one gets turned away for any reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2011, Breath of Fire closed its physical space on 5th and Broadway in Santa Ana, but the desire to write and produce plays from under-served creatives continued to burn. The organization re-emerged in 2015, with a renewed focus on workshop and storytelling incubation.<\/p>\n

\"Sara <\/p>\n

Sara Guerrero, founding artistic director of Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble. <\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Alex Alba)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to do fully realized productions, but that is really expensive and really beyond our means,\u201d Guerrero said. \u201cWhat came out of our reemergence was an understanding that our community wanted us to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then in 2016, Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble became a production community partner and resident artist at Grand Central Arts Center in Santa Ana, presenting heightened staged readings and productions in the 78-seat Grand Central Theatre.<\/p>\n

Today, more than a decade later, the group remains committed to uplifting underrepresented voices as the only Latina theater company in Orange County.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been a resident artist for Grand Central for over 10 years now. We have a home where we can continue to provide programming,\u201d Guerrero said.<\/p>\n

The work is still necessary, said Diana Burbano<\/a>, literary manager at Breath of Fire<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of Latin and Hispanic authors are 4 to 8% of published authors in the United States, depending on the sector. In the playwrighting sector, they are closer to 4%,\u201d Burbano said.<\/p>\n

\"Playwright <\/p>\n

Playwright and literary manager, Diana Burbano.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Alex Alba)<\/p>\n

In honor of Breath of Fire\u2019s ongoing work over the last 10 years, the Theater Ensemble is releasing the book, \u201c\u00a1Fuego! Fire We Carry: 10 Years of Works presented by Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble\u201d this month.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018\u00a1Fuego!\u2019 is a 10-year anthology of a lot of the work we have done in the community with our writers,\u201d said Burbano. \u201cIt does include plays, it includes poetry, it has corridos (ballads) \u2026 it is full of different kinds of creative, artistic writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burbano and Guerrero edited the book along with Adriana Alba, chair of Breath of Fire\u2019s board. The anthology contains pieces from 46 writers who each made creative contributions to the ensemble\u2019s artistic community over the past decade.<\/p>\n

In order to compile the book, Breath of Fire put out a call for submissions from any former participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we had to go through and read all of the work, figuring out which pieces resonated with each of our chapters and where they would fit,\u201d Guerrero said.<\/p>\n

Revisiting some of the earliest work felt validating for the team. It was a reminder of how far they have come and a celebration of how much they have accomplished.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the pieces I know were some of the writer\u2019s very first pieces of drama and they have gone on to do much wider work,\u201d Burbano said.<\/p>\n

Like Sigrid Gilmer, now a screenwriter who has written for popular television shows like \u201cClaws\u201d (2017), \u201cGenius\u201d (2017) and \u201cGossip Girl\u201d (2021) and playwright Cris Eli Blak, most recently a staff writer on the Starz series \u201cPower Book III: Raising Kanan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The work the Ensemble has produced over the last decade is often focused on Orange County, like \u201cCantos Cuentos y Corridos de Santa Ana\u201d and \u201cCanto de Anaheim\u201d and readers will find portions of those pieces in the book.<\/p>\n

\"Sara <\/p>\n

Sara Guerrero holds a copy of Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble anthology, \u201c\u2018\u00a1Fuego!\u201d<\/p>\n

(Alex Alba)<\/p>\n

Contributing writers also include 2026 Guggenheim Fellow for Drama & Performance Art, Elaine Romero and local author and educator, Lisa Alvarez<\/a>, who published \u201cSome Final Beauty and Other Stories\u201d last year.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 9, Breath of Fire will continue to tend the flame with a book release party at CSUF Grand Central Arts Center Theatre, featuring readings and excerpts from the anthology, along with other live performances from special guests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve invited our contributing writers to either share their work live, or we have other artists in their place coming in to read and share,\u201d said Guerrero. \u201dIt\u2019s never a dull moment when we get to together; it\u2019s a celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n

An opening reception will begin at 7 p.m. with the house opening at 7:45 p.m. and the approximately 90-minute show beginning at 8 p.m. Copies of \u201c\u00a1FUEGO!\u201d will also be available for purchase.<\/p>\n

While the book celebrates the voices that helped Breath of Fire burn the last 10 years, Guerrero said she hopes the book will inspire the community to continue to burn for 10 more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all goes back to the work we are doing,\u201d said Guerrero.<\/p>\n

The book release party for \u201c\u00a1FUEGO!\u201d will be held Oct. 9 at CSUF Grand Central Arts Center Theatre in Santa Ana. Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 at the door. For details, visit breathoffire.org<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble began, the vision was to create a space where voices that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,189685,24264,64987,179,189684,3802,189686,69067,13568,338,189683,1968,18672,44538,72],"class_list":["post-485052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-anthology","tag-book","tag-breath","tag-community","tag-diana-burbano","tag-fire","tag-fire-latina-theater-ensemble","tag-fuego","tag-piece","tag-santa-ana","tag-sara-guerrero","tag-work","tag-writer","tag-writing","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}