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Esther Gatica

@esteyg

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Esther Banegas Gatica Bilingual Theatre kid. 🎭 💚 Who acts, directs and writes -🇭🇳

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Bilingual playwright Esther Banegas Gatica tells us about the power of playwriting in synthesizing culture into stories that foster connection and community. Get a sneak peek into the original stage play she is workshopping through the Lime Arts Unfinished program: Una Cita en el Salon 💚 by @esteyg

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4 years ago

Last Monday a genuine dream came true! I went to…. ✨Dancing with The Stars✨🪩Anyone who knows me knows i’ve watched this show since I was 12!!!!!!!😭In the pictures is my 6th grade vision-board and DWTS is one of those lil squares.

This show has brought me so much joy and this Honduran girl got to sit behind the judges and be in a limited audience enjoying the magic of dance and live tv. I was even on camera WHAT?! Just being in the same room as all these talented geniuses and Tyra!! Is unreal. It was 90’s night so I got to see Salt N’Pepa, En Vogue, Vanilla Ice and Kid and Play! 🎤

Then because God goes above and beyond with our hearts desires, I had the chance to meet my fave @valentin 😍 He was so kind and I talked with him about Honduras!! (not featured cause my camera girl Sam got shy🤦🏽‍♀️😭but she my bff & wing girl & drove me here so all good lol)

Make sure to watch and vote Val and Gaby deserve the win and to end the rant.
Im sharing to encourage y’all to never stop picturing your wildest dreams coming true because they totally can!! This time as an audience member next time as the first contestant who is a playwright just wait and see😉💃🏽🥹💜 taken in Dancing with the Stars @ CBS studios by @esteyg

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4 years ago

Dolores Huerta prepares for the one-year anniversary of the Delano grape strike, after suffering an unwanted encounter that pushes her to question if the sacrifices she's made are worth it.

Witness “Ay Dolores!” by Esther Banegas Gatica. Directed by Tiana Randall-Quant and starring Alejandra Jaime. Part of Monday Night PlayGround-LA: AMERICA 250: The Dreamers, The Builders & The Leaders. October 12th at @thebroadwaterla Second Stage at 7pm.

Admission-Free (Suggested Donation: $10-$30): playground-la.org/boxoffice
** Ticket Link in Bio **

#latheatre #newplays #shortplays #thebroadwaterla #america250 #americanhistory #doloreshuerta #delanograpestrike #cesarchavez #aydolores
Photo by @irmasophia by @esteyg

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2 days ago

Who’s got her first commission? Yo!@playgroundlatheatre has been my artistic community post grad here in California and earlier in September they gave me a sweet meaningful honor: ✨I’m the first LA recipient of the June Anne Baker Prize in Playwriting! ✨

This is the 25th Anniversary of the June Anne Baker Prize, one of the nation’s longest continuous running awards and commissions for early-career female/non-binary playwrights. New this year, PlayGround has expanded the Prize to include one playwright from each of the four regions where the company operates: (me!) Esther Banegas Gatica (Los Angeles), KT Frances Hartline (San Francisco), Uma Incrocci (New York City), and Toby Inoue (Chicago).

We were honored at this year’s One PlayGround Gala, which took place in all four cities simultaneously on September 14, 2026; over the next year, each of us will develop a new full-length play under commission, based on one of our PlayGround short works, as part of the 2026-27 PlayGround Playwright Residency.

The June Anne Baker Prize was initiated by John H. Gilman in memory of his late wife. The Prize is awarded from among that year’s Best of PlayGround, representing a gifted new comedic and/or political voice for the stage. Past recipients include Lauren Yee, Geetha Reddy, Patricia Cotter, and Genevieve Jessee, among others.

It was a lovely evening at A Noise Within in Pasadena and with the lovely Jessica Kubanzky also being honored!

The new playgroundLA season starts Monday, come check out what amazing stuff we are doing 💙🩵

Waiting for the Bus 🚌 is the play I will expand under my commission!

My impromptu speech! 🎤 💚

The co-chairs of our lovely evening @mslaurenyee and @geetha

@pasadenaplayhouse Artistic Director honoring @kubzansky with @theivanrivas11 😁

The gangs all here.

Hubby

@writejjwrite always making it happen for LA

@rachelharner so fun meeting fellow talented Playground LA writers out of the Zoom-world

Los consentidos 💚

OG speech 🎤

Is my dress cute or what?✨✨❇️💚 taken in A Noise Within Theatre by @esteyg

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3 days ago

JOIN US in Celebrating our roots, honoring our heritage through story!
From Sept 19th thru Oct 24th! WRITE WITH US and buy your ¡FUEGO! copy! #StoryTellingAsResistance Link in bio or Visit BreathofFire.org

SIN BARRERAS ONLINE PLAYWRITING FORUM
WITH MELANIE QUEPONDS
SEPT 19, OCT 3 & 19 from 4 to 6 PM (ONLINE)

PRINT RUN: A PLAYWRIGHT'S GUIDE TO SELF-PUBLISHING
WITH DIANA BURBANO
SEPT 27 from 11:30 to 1:30 PM (IN PERSON)

BOOK RELEASE CELEBRATION!
¡FUEGO! FIRE WE CARRY: 10 YEARS of WORKS
MEET the 46 contributing writers and WATCH, LISTEN and CELEBRATE
their AMAZING WORK - OCT 9 from 7 to 10 PM (IN PERSON)

THE IMAGINAL BODY: ALCHEMY, RITUAL & CREATIVE DREAMWORK WITH SUSANNA VELARDE COVARRUBIAS
OCT 10 from 11:30 to 2 PM (IN PERSON)

THE MAGIC OF OUR STORIES: SHORT FICTION
WITH MARYTZA K. RUBIO
OCT 24 from 11:30 to 2 PM (IN PERSON) taken in CSUF Grand Central Art Center by @esteyg

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24 days ago

These stills are from the short play Waiting for...the Bus by Esther Banegas Gatica, directed by Andres Agustin Barrera, featuring Julia Belanova & myself, as part of Best of @playgroundlatheatre

Playground is a leading national playwright incubator & theatre community hub. Best of celebrated the best writers & short works from the PlayGround-LA 14th season through a lineup of 6 short plays originally developed through the Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series.

PlayGround will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the June Anne Baker Prize at this year’s One PlayGround Gala, with simultaneous cocktail parties in NYC, Chicago, LA & San Francisco today, September 14, 2026.

The June Anne Baker Prize is one of the nation’s longest-running play commissions dedicated to the next generation of promising women/non-binary playwrights. Our girl @esteyg is the Los Angeles recipient of the 2026 June Anne Baker Prize.

Felicidades mi reina, I’m grateful I had the honor of breathing your Antonia to life. Your stories bring such authenticity & humanity; a celebratory concha toast is in order! At Playground & beyond, I have witnessed your brilliance & feel that with artists like you, we can truly make our world a better place. The pen is mightier than the sword & you carry it so well🔥

And as always 🖕🧊 & 🆓🍉

📸Photos of our encore performance at Best of: Playground LA taken in The Broadwater by @esteyg

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a month ago

Celebrate Jessica Kubzansky and the June Anne Baker Prize 25th Anniversary
Join us for the ONE PLAYGROUND GALA (2026)
📆September 14, 2026
🎟 playground-sf.org/gala/ (link in bio)

PlayGround will honor four theatre luminaries at our annual four-city gala on Monday, September 14th. In conjunction with the 25th anniversary of PlayGround’s June Anne Baker Prize, one of the nation’s longest-running play commissions dedicated to the next generation of promising women/non-binary playwrights, PlayGround will recognize significant theatre artists and producers who have elevated womxn playwrights and stories throughout their careers:

Margo Hall, Lorraine Hansbury Theatre (San Francisco)
Jessica Kubzansky, Boston Court Pasadena (Los Angeles)
Emily Shooltz, Signature Theatre (New York)
Ericka Ratcliff, Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Chicago).

The 2026 June Anne Baker Prize winners are Esther Banegas Gatica (PlayGround-Los Angeles), KT Frances Hartline (PlayGround-SF), Uma Incrocci (PlayGround-NY), and Toby Inoue (PlayGround-CH). The Gala honorary committee includes June Anne Baker Prize alumni Lauren Yee and Geetha Reddy (honorary co-chairs), as well as Rachel Bublitz, Patricia Cotter, Laura Domingo, Brady Lea, Alanna McFall, Erin Marie Panttaja, Evelyn Jean Pine, Bridgette Dutta Portman, and Kimberly Ridgeway. by @esteyg

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a month ago

Gracias @latinxtheatrecommons !!! I attended the Carnaval of new Latinx Musicals this weekend at UC San Diego. Meeting new Latine creatives and some I had only bonded virtually with before!

This weekend was hot (literally and metaphorically) under the blazing sun & also within us igniting all of us theatremakers to no pare sigue sigue in our pursuits of creating, collaborating and championing.

Go check out all these amazing Latinx Musicals most of them have content out there for you to listen and support!! @suenosouramericanmusical @azulthemusical @maigavidal @littleduendemusical @daydreamermusical @mijamusical @blackboytraveljoy Fruition @lin.unwell.miranda @officialmrchavez @yborcitythemusical

Un abrazo a todos🧡💛❤️‍🔥☀️ taken in UC San Diego by @esteyg

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a month ago

Next week! Any Bay Area Folks make sure to come out to a weekend of amazing stories and the culmination of two years of hard HARD work!

It’s a free reading of a Play, a memoir, a TYA novel, a movie and my TV pilot: Vis a Vis a Visa 🩵

In this near-future dramedy TV pilot, a person’s country of origin is no longer a barrier to any kind of study, job, travel, or dream. When a rag-tag group of grad students are given an unexpected opportunity, they choose to document the stories of the last, pre-reform U.S. immigrants. Think: Abbott Elementary and Insecure meets the Holocaust Project.

At turns hilarious and heartbreaking, the show shines a light on a world that’s within our reach while also uplifting the harrowing experiences of present-day immigrants.

This cast and director are🔥
Gwen & Julia of WBI are extraordinary.
I am very proud and grateful with God for this experience and what’s to come. taken in Yerba Buena Center for the Arts by @esteyg

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5 months ago

DNA You&Me Becoming We Inc. By Esther Banegas Gatica

Directed by Teatro Foo

Costume Design by Carlos Enrique Arellano

Starring
Tiara Estupinian Meza
Frida Villeda
Rosa Delgado

DNA You and Me Becoming We Inc.
Maria, who’s Honduran, has been forced by her job to take DNA tests to validate her as an ethnic hire. To her surprise, she’s half Irish! This prompts her to confront the A.I. staff at DNA You and Me Becoming We Inc. to demand a refund or a retake, given that her job and identity as a Latina are at stake. A comedic, futuristic examination of ancestral lineage that yields more questions than answers.

We are excited to announce that we will be presenting in Part 3 of Frida Kahlo 10 Minute Play Festival. Which will be running from April 10th-May 3rd. Performance dates are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 6pm. Tickets are $20 and can be bought either at the door or online. Link in Bio. We hope to see you there! taken in Frida's Garden by @esteyg

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6 months ago

Susane's first day in LA is interrupted when she misses her bus, but meets a local vendor, Antonia, who teaches her the way of the city her way.

Don’t miss Waiting for…the Bus by Esther Banegas Gatica, directed by Andres Agustin Barrera. Featuring Jackie Castañeda and Julia Belanova. Part of Best of PlayGround-LA. April 6, 2026 at 7pm at @thebroadwaterla Second Stage

Admission-Free (Suggested Donation: $10-$30):
Ticket Link in Bio

#latheatre #newplays #taleofthecity #thebroadwaterla #playgroundla #cancha by @esteyg

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6 months ago

Come Tomorrow by Esther Banegas Gatica
Directed by Teatro Foo
Costume Design by Carlos Enrique Arellano

Shereza Rodriguez- Tiara Estupinian Meza
Guard- Alex G. Murillo
Consulate Officer- Johnny Cendejas
Shereza Understudy-Galilea Salinas

In a modern twist on “One Thousand and One Nights,” Shereza, a determined Honduran immigrant, embarks on a journey to win over a U.S consulate officer with her magical storytelling in hopes of securing a student visa to honor her sister’s dying wish of pushing Shereza to chase her creative dreams.

Come Tomorrow will be a part of Teatro Frida Kahlo’s 10 Minute Play Festival running from January 9th-February 1st 2026, Fridays/Saturdays at 8pm Sundays at 5pm. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased online or at the door.

Galilea Salinas will play the role of Shereza on January 23rd, 24th and 25th.

We can’t wait to see you all there! taken in Frida's Garden by @esteyg

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10 months ago