“I felt like I wanted to write the book I needed as a kid, [the one] young girls of color also need,” Erika Sánchez tellsSeeing representation in stories, she says, “makes [young people] feel less alone, that someone understands them and what they’re going through.”opened on Feb. 26 , taking audiences right into the heart of Julia’s self-discovery.
The play presents Julia’s story in live action. Julia is mourning the death of her older sister Olga, the “perfect mexican daughter” of the family. Amidst her grief, she is attempting to follow her dreams of being a writer, much to her parents’ dismay. Moreover, as she tries to understand how she fits into her family, Julia discovers that Olga may not have been as “perfect” as she once thought.
Karen Rodriguez, who plays Julia in the stage play, says she was drawn to the production’s approach to timely topics like mental health in communities of color, topics that are still stigmatized and not openly discussed. “I think the biggest thing that struck me the most was [Julia’s] journey of discovering that she is not okay mentally. She is going through a serious bout of depression,” Karen says. “I want young women that look like me and people who are outside of that experience to realize that Mexicans and brown people are not monoliths. It's important to relate to experiences that might feel outside of your immediate experience, but actually you can totally relate to.