Interview: Lettie S. De Anda & Melba Tirado on VIGNETTES: THREE STORIES ABOUT THE LATINA EXPERIENCE

Creative duo Lettie S. De Anda and Melba Tirado, two Latina playwrights and actors living in San Diego’s North County, looked around at the local theater scene and realized something was missing: Latinx stories weren’t being told, either on stage or on screen. Rather than wait for opportunities to appear, they decided to create their own. That’s how A.L.M.A. (Art • Leadership • Mujeres • Activism) was born in 2025. After building the infrastructure and support for Latina-centered storytelling, they launched their first project: Vignettes: Three Stories About the Latina Experience.

Vignettes first premiered at New Village Arts in partnership with TuYo Theatre, presenting three short plays—two written by Melba and one by Lettie. The productions were met with enthusiastic audiences earlier this month, and now the project returns for two additional performances at the Schulman Auditorium on March 19 and 26 at 6 p.m.

When asked how these narratives came together, Melba says, “We were noticing the theater scene wasn’t speaking to us or about our experiences. So we wrote stories that were truthful, close to our lives, and shared a slice of our reality.”

The plays explore the Latina identity from personal and generational perspectives. Melba shares, “The Dishwasher Diaries is about a new mom balancing children and her own creative life. Growing up in Mexico City, I saw how women’s interests were often put aside because of family expectations. Life experiences shape how we see ourselves in new ways when we move to the U.S. and leave our home behind."

Lettie adds, “My piece, No Pasa Nada, is inspired by the Vagina Monologues format and explores language, bicultural challenges, and what it means to navigate between two worlds." Focusing on the pocha, or first-generation immigrant experience, she wants audiences to see the differences but also the shared humanity. Lettie says, “Almost everyone can trace back their immigrant heritage.” Some parts of the piece are performed in Spanish by choice, intentionally giving the audience the perspective of someone who doesn’t speak English—and that’s meant to be part of the experience.

Music plays a vital role, too. They collaborated with Lettie's husband, Ruben De Anda, to weave guitar and background music into the stories, creating emotional texture. Melba notes, “Live music brings energy to the performance, and the audience feels it, too. Pre-recorded music is fixed, but live music changes each night with the acting and the audience's energy." In her second piece, Coming Home, Melba incorporates a tango to represent the dance between the two voices that visit her main character—one in English and one in Spanish—pulling inspiration from characters in her life.

At its heart, A.L.M.A. is about community and activism. Melba explains, “Less than 2% of productions reflect Latina stories. We’re creating the conditions to tell our stories authentically.” Lettie adds, “We want people to leave thinking about their own lives, the conversations they’ll have, and the impact they can make. The plays show that Latinx voices are getting erased, so what are we all going to do about it?”