Last but definitely not least, we would like to present Diana Burbano. Her play “Gargoyles” is about a disfigured British WWI soldier who takes refuge in a small South American village to escape from his past and from society. There he encounters Aurora, an ex-silent film star and sculptor, living a bohemian life away from Los Angeles as she waits for her divorce to be finalized, and her teenage daughter, Daisy. As he reluctantly allows the women into his life, an uncomfortable love triangle forms forcing him to seek another refuge.

Diana Burbano:

What was the inspiration or motivation to write the play selected for Page to Stage: That’s What She Said?

I was inspired by a Smithsonian article about facial injuries in WWI. I couldn’t find much information about what happened to the men who had been repaired and lived with their injuries, so I made it up.

How long have you been writing and who encourages you to write? Who are your influences?

I have been writing for the past decade. I started to write because I never saw women like myself onstage and I wanted to fix that. My great passion is writing interesting roles for Latinx women. My influences include Octavio Solis, Jose Cruz Gonzalez, Paula Vogel, Sara Ruhl, Lisa Loomer.

What do you find gratifying or freeing by writing for theater that you don’t find in writing for other mediums?

The use of language. I can write the way I wish people spoke, and include poetry as everyday language.

What are five things you can’t live without?

Bowie/Prince/Lou Reed/Phillip Glass
The gym
Travel
My bed
My anger

What was the last book you read?

Under the Big Black Sun a history of Punk by John Doe.

What do you have coming up next?

I will be in North Carolina at Actors theatre of Charlotte, nuVoices playwrights program with “Ghosts of Bogota.

“Gargoyles” is directed by Elvia Susana Rubalcava and will be performed Sunday, September 1 at 3pm. For more information on Diana please visit her website at http://dianaburbano.com/index.html. To purchase tickets for this show, please visithttps://www.ci.brea.ca.us/1236/Page-to-Stage-Playwrights-Festival-2019