Nadia Guevara Joins New Village Arts as Associate Artistic Director

New Village Arts has announced the addition of a new full-time staff member to our team, Nadia Guevara, who will take on the role of Associate Artistic Director.

Guevara, who has made a name for herself as an actor in numerous San Diego theatre productions, including the currently running Buddy-The Buddy Holly Story where she acts as choreographer and stars as Maria Elena Holly, steps into her role at New Village Arts to spearhead a new community outreach initiative for the coming year.

Teatro Pueblo Nuevo (a conceptual translation for "New Village Arts" in Spanish) is an initiative to engage the Latino and Hispanic communities in North San Diego County, by presenting works by Latin and Hispanic playwrights accompanied by post-show discussions, by partnering with local business to sponsor Latin and Hispanic influenced festivals to celebrate the culture and by representing and modeling the Latin and Hispanic community more intimately in the theatre's seasonal programming. Guevara will direct the efforts of this initiative for the coming year.

"Teatro Pueblo Nuevo is a place where these two worlds can overlap, providing more representation of the Latino community on San Diego stages and more involvement of the community in the activities of the theatre," says Guevara. "By connecting patrons to these theatrical experiences in a very personal way through the surround events and workshops, New Village Arts can set a precedent for other San Diego theatres to prioritize diversity on their stages as well."

Guevara will be a featured actor in four of New Village Arts' Season 17 presentations - the aforementioned Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, The Secret Garden by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon (which she will also choreograph), Cloud Tectonics by Jose Rivera and Men on Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus - and will leverage her acting role to create more conversation around these stories. Cloud Tectonics, which opens in January 2018 and will be directed by Herbert Siguenza, will feature a series of post-show discussions designed to illuminate the themes portrayed in the story which spring from the Latino/Hispanic culture of the playwright, and will be moderated by Guevara. Additional cultural engagement on stage will take place through a production for young audiences based on a Hispanic fairy tale which will be presented during the holidays. Guevara will direct & produce.

Additionally, Guevara and New Village Arts will team up with community partners throughout the year, such as the Barrio Museum in Carlsbad, to produce quarterly cultural festivals to both educate and inspire the broader community as well as create a celebratory space for the Latino/Hispanic communities. By bringing the community together through music and food, New Village Arts hopes to create more awareness of this community's long history and continued engagement in the Carlsbad community.

Before stepping into her role at New Village Arts this month and in addition to her longevity on the San Diego stage (NVA credits include The Clean House, Summer and Smoke), Guevara is also an accomplished teaching artist who has worked in San Ysidro, Eastlake and North County. She has developed performances for the Dia de los Muertos Festival in City Heights, which were recently revived at The Old Globe in a festival she hosted at the theatre. She has also worked as a teaching artist with La Jolla Playhouse.

"Nadia has been part of the New Village Arts family as an actor for many years and we are excited to harness the talent and skill she brings with her to build this important new initiative," says Executive Artistic Director Kristianne Kurner. "We are focused on creating arts and culture opportunities for our entire community: creating a village that brings people together. Nadia's presence will be a big step towards accomplishing that goal." Teatro Pueblo Nuevo is partially funded by Wells Fargo. Additional sponsorships are available and welcomed.

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