Celebrating Summer Solstice

Happy summer, ATE family! As we celebrate the summer solstice, the most sun-filled days in the northern hemisphere, we honor the world’s bounty. In a cultural and political era where scarcity is weaponized, it is important to remember that we exist in communities that foster support for one another. The theater, much like humanity itself, is a collaborative art form, one that can only thrive in genuine community with the room for exploration and exaltation. We are so grateful to have you as a part of our creative community. 

If you are able, please consider making a donation to our company to help support our future programming. If you would like to get involved in our work, please reach out!

From Above by Drew Woodson at the 2025 Indigenous Performing Arts Residency

In April, Drew Woodson completed his tenure as the playwright-in-residence with ATE for UC Berkeley’s 2025 Indigenous Performing Arts Residency! Woodson spent a week in Berkeley workshopping his play From Above, which engages with the relationship between American Indigeneity and the Catholic Church. The reading, which was open to the public, was a smashing success; audience members laughed, cried, and audibly gasped. 

Drew shared his sentiments about the process, saying, “Working with ATE on my play From Above was incredibly invigorating and uplifting. Working on new plays can be difficult sometimes, but working with the AlterTheater team was such an immense joy that it made it easy to show up and put in the hours with the team. Everyone always thinks about the end product of plays, the version you end up sitting in a darkened theater to see. But when everything comes together as it did this past spring, something magical can happen even with a working draft of a script, a wonderful director, a dedicated dramaturg, and a group of actors reading from behind a music stand.”

The staged reading was produced by ensemble members Réal Vargas Alanis, Leah Sanginiti, and Zoë Aiko Sonnenberg, and directed by ensemble member Réal Vargas Alanis. Dramaturgy was provided by Zoë Aiko Sonnenberg. The cast included Leah Sanginiti, Tasi Alabastro, Linda Amayo-Hassan, Patrick Russell, Katherine Bahena-Benitez, W. Fran Astorga, and Raymond Álvarez. 

Upcoming Programming: Bridging Turtle Island, September 2025

This year, IN THE MARGIN (ITM), the community-oriented arts and advocacy organization co-led by ATE ensemble member Réal Vargas Alanis, launched ITMéxico, a two-part international residency designed to provide a safe and generative space for artists—particularly Native and Black artists—whose work and identities are being actively challenged and censored in the U.S. This pilot program creates a bridge between borders, fostering artistic resilience and cultural preservation.

The first phase of this project took place in July 2024, featuring an onsite residency in Sahuayo, Michoacán, Mexico, where ITM commissioned interdisciplinary artists—including playwrights, producers, and visual artisans—to engage in a ten-day residency. Immersed in the powwow festival season of the tlahualiles, artists created work inspired by a space that honors, rather than restricts, their traditions.

Alternative Theater Ensemble is thrilled to work in partnership with ITM for the second phase of ITMéxico, Bridging Turtle Island, hosted in the Bay Area this September. This next phase will bring the works developed in Sahuayo to a U.S. audience, fostering cultural exchange and artistic resistance; and crafting a bridge on Turtle Island. 

ATE will make use of our Creative Youth Development Program for this project, pairing seasoned professionals with emerging QTBIPOC artists to stage readings of scenes from the new works developed during the initial residency of ITMéxico. This initiative expands our collective reach, ensuring that young artists are not only mentored but also given access to stories that are actively being suppressed.

In a political climate where artists are being reprimanded and/or banned, ITMéxico is an act of defiance, resilience, and survival. If we are told to “go back,” then we take our art with us, create in freedom, and return with stories that refuse to be silenced.

We invite you to stand with us in this effort—to support the art that emerges from liberation and to uplift the next generation of QTBIPOC artists as they carry these narratives forward.

Ensemble Happenings

Leah Sanginiti acted in a staged reading of Evren Odcikin's new play Oriental, or 1001 Ways to Tie Yourself in Knots at Golden Thread Productions in SF.

Tanis Parenteau played “Connie” in the East Coast premiere of AlterLab alumna Vickie Ramirez’s play Pure Native at Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, NY. 

Zoë Sonnenberg is working on a draft of her new play exploring artificial intelligence, grief, and fractured memories within a family. 

Eric Avery is bringing their project The Pla[y/n] for Reparation$ to venues across the country throughout the coming months. Follow their progress here!