Welcome to Radio Aluna Theatre!

Radio Aluna Teatro is an audio storytelling project produced by Aluna Theatre, hosted by Camila Diaz-Varela and Monica Garrido. We currently feature three streams of programming:

Merendiando – There’s so much you can learn through a good conversation. Two queer Mexican-Canadian artists (one more Canadian than the other, and vice versa) have a heart to heart with artists and activists across the Americas and beyond, with snacks that remind them of home… wherever that is.

Conversatorios – What are the stories behind the stories we tell? Follow experts, innovators, and artists in conversation about performance and human rights – from the RUTAS and CAMINOS festival archives.

The Studio Series – Hear new performances coming to life from Aluna’s studio, as invited artists experiment with audio storytelling and develop their work.

Our Podcasters:

Monica Garrido
Head of Production / Co-Host, Radio Aluna Theatre

Monica Garrido (she/her)  is a Mexican born Toronto based Queer Artist, Filmmaker, Writer, Producer, Comedian, Performer and Storyteller. Her short films “Diferente” and the horror-comedy “Love You to Death” premiered at the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival. Her first solo show “The Cunning Linguist”, was created at Emerging Creator Unit at Buddies In Bad Times Theatre and won the 2016 Queer Acts Audience Award. It was recently adapted as an Audio Show for Aluna Theatre’s Studio Series.  Monica has appeared in commercials, music videos and TV in shows such as Baroness Von Sketch Show. She’s part of the ensemble of the Canadian Comedy Award winning show Sketch Comedy Extravaganza Eleganza.​ Monica is the 2018 recipient of the Queer Emerging Artist Award at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.  She recently worked in the writers room of the new sketch show for OMNI TV (ABROAD).  Her stage work includes: “Private Eyes” (lemonTree Creations), “Bypass” (Writer-Caminos Festival),“Youth/Elder project” (Buddies in Bad Times), “Naughty Listers” (Second City Toronto).

She is one third of the Latinx Drag King boyband “Boyband the Boyband”. As well as Co-Host the CAMINOS 2021 Festival. She is also a Taurus and wishes you the best.

Lucia Linares
Producer / Co-Host, Radio Aluna Theatre

Lucia Linares (they/them) is a Peruvian Trans Non-Binary multidisciplinary artist and arts administrator based in Toronto. Their work is heavily influenced by their experiences as a queer immigrant and finding the balance between their multiple identities and cultures. In 2021, they were part of the first Trans Healing Arts Residency in partnership with Sketch Arts, and also received Buddies in Bad Times theatre’s Queer Emerging Artist award. Lucia co-created Boyband the Boyband, a Drag King concert play that explores the complexity of Latinx identity. As a festival programmer and arts administrator, Lucia has worked with aluCine Latin Film and Media Arts Festival, Human Rights Film Festival, imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival and Inside Out LGBT Film Festival. As a projection artist, Lucia has worked with Pencil Kit Productions (White Muscle Daddy, I Like The Smell of Gasoline) and collaborated with director Tricia Hagoriles for The Noise Witch’s upcoming visual album. Most recently, they had their first solo showcase “Reflections”, a multimedia installation that explores the relationship between trans people and their bodies through projection mapping and audio interviews.

Camila Diaz-Varela (2018-2022)
Co-Host, Radio Aluna Theatre, theme music composer

Camila (they) is a theatre artist, musician, and community organizer with Mexican roots. They were born in Kjipuktuk on unceded Mi’kmaq territory, also known as Halifax, Nova Scotia. Camila is a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, produces live and digital sound projects, and performs both as an actor in theatre and as a singer-songwriter. They are passionate about live performance’s capacity to transform social and political binaries. Biodiversity is life.

CREDITS
All Merendiando episodes are in Spanglish, English or Spanish. New episodes of Radio Aluna Theatre are released on Wednesdays. Subscribe to this show wherever you get your podcasts.

Radio Aluna Teatro is produced by Aluna Theatre with support from the Metcalf Foundation, the Canadian Department of Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, and TD Bank.

Aluna Theatre is Beatriz Pizano & Trevor Schwellnus; Theme music by Camila Diaz-Varela.

Podcasts go out on Wednesdays.