The Casa 0101 Theater Documentary: 25 Years of Nurturing a Community
Casa 0101 is now 25 years old! The organization is partnering with the 3 x Emmy-nominated documentary team of Michael Vargas and Moni Vargas of Friends We Love to produce a documentary film that will capture 25 years of Casa 0101 history. The little theater that could, founded by playwright Josefina Lopez in the year 2000, has grown into a cultural institution in Boyle Heights, nurturing thousands of students, actors, artists, and audience members. Casa 0101 has produced hundreds of new works and has been a lighthouse for thousands of people who call Casa 0101 a second home.
Casa 0101 and Friends We Love are looking to raise $100,000 to help fund the documentary.
Casa 0101: 25 Years of Theater, Transformation, and Community tells the inspiring story of a theater born out of Josefina Lopez’s determination to create space for underrepresented Latino stories. The film follows three intertwining journeys: Josefina, the founder of Casa 0101, who started the theater to produce her play Real Women Have Curves and now sees it heading to Broadway; Katherine Valencia, a shy girl who found her voice at Casa 0101, eventually starting her own drama club at school; and Abel Alvarado, a costume designer-turned-writer/director, now telling LGBT stories on stage. With insights from key figures like Emmanuel Deleage, Mark Kraus, and Eddie Padilla, Casa 0101 emerges as a transformative space in Boyle Heights—a place where elders, youth, and parents are given the opportunity to tell their stories, heal and create the magic that happens when a community sees itself represented on stage. Through the lens of these personal journeys, Casa 0101 is shown not just as a theater but as a space where art becomes activism and a lifeline for a resilient community.
