Staff

David Lozano serves as the Executive Artistic Director of Cara Mía Theatre and specializes in writing, directing and producing original bilingual plays for the Latino community in North Texas.

Notable mainstage productions include To DIE: GO in Leaves, by Frida Kahlo (devised by Cara Mía’s artistic ensemble), Nuestra Pastorela (co- written with Jeffry Farrell), and The Dreamers: A Bloodline (devised by Cara Mía). The Dreamers: A Bloodline, the first in a trilogy on immigration, was awarded the TACA Donna Wilhelm Family New Works Fund in the grant’s inaugural year in 2012 and was named the “Best New Play of 2013 by Local Writers” by TheatreJones.Com.

David recently co-wrote and directed Deferred Action, the second installment of the trilogy for a Cara Mía co-production with the Dallas Theater Center in April 2016. Deferred Action was also the recipient of the TACA Donna Wilhelm Family New Works Fund.

In 2009, David co-wrote and directed the play Crystal City 1969 with Raul Treviño, which was named the “Best New Play of 2009” by The Dallas Morning News, TheaterJones.Com and the Dallas-Fort Worth Theater Critics Forum.

Notable children’s and educational plays written by Lozano include Searching for the Six Flags of Texas and The Wisdom of Viejo Antonio, which travel to North Texas schools, Texas museums and area cultural centers.

Lozano recently completed the inaugural artEquity Facilitator Training Program at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and is a founding steering committee member of the national Latinx Theatre Commons.

In March of 2013, Lozano accompanied a delegation of 20 U.S. theatre artists to Cuba with the Theatre Communications Group.

In 2014, he was recognized by The Dallas Observer as one of six “Masterminds of Arts & Culture”.

Lozano was trained by Fred Curchack from the University of Texas at Dallas, Alicia Martínez Álvarez with the Laboratorio de la Máscara in Mexico City, Jeffry Farrell at Park Cities Yoga, Joan Schirle from Dell’Arte International in Blue Lake, California, and at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

Lozano has studied with various directors and­­ master teachers from Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, France, Senegal, Spain, and the United States.

Gabriela Leodiou is beyond thrilled and excited to be joining the Cara Mia Theatre Co. team as the Associate Producer. She has worked as one of Cara Mia’s Stage Managers throughout her years in the D-FW area. As a Houston native herself, she considers Dallas her true home away from home. Taking challenges in stride, bridging, and building partnerships for Cara Mia to continue to grow and inspire communities, enriching them in the art of transformative Latinx theatre. With her keen eye, and bold sense of self, she continues to feel seen by the fierce team and leadership that Cara Mia has always had. She continues to Stage Manage throughout the area, and enjoys sharing her passion for theatre to anyone willing to feel inspired. #InspirewithEnthusiasm

Shirley Pizarro has over twenty years of experience as an educator and has been awarded teacher of the month and year multiple times. Ms. Pizarro holds a Master in Curriculum Design and has helped develop curriculum for reading language arts, social studies, the 4H Club: a youth development organization. Ms. Pizarro also worked for The American Federation of Teachers as an organizer addressing issues like overcrowded classrooms, lack of resources, and teacher pay. She also helped organize visits to the Texas State Capitol with LatinX parents and teachers to voice these concerns with their elected representatives. Shirley Pizarro is an advocate for the community, students, and those she serves.

Leslie Roche received her degree in Theatre Performance and a certificate in Latin American studies from the University of North Texas. She has worked as Cara Mía’s House Manager and teaching artist this past year and is excited to continue to grow with the company. Her focus is finding ways to combine art with advocacy and is passionate about using theatre as a means to achieve that.

Yaletzy serves as the Communications Coordinator at Cara Mía Theatre.  She is an advocate for representation of historically oppressed and underrepresented individuals within all professions and, in particular, within the arts. She aspires to continue to make theatre accessible to everyone as she believes in the positive impact theatre can have. She also believes in the power of social media, marketing, business, and communications, and through the implementation of her knowledge in these areas, she strives to bring awareness to Cara Mía Theatre.

Virginia Grise is a recipient of the Yale Drama Award, Whiting Writers’ Award, the Princess Grace Award in Theatre Directing, and the Playwrights’ Center’s Jerome Fellowship. Her published work includes Your Healing is Killing Me (Plays Inverse Press), blu (Yale University Press), The Panza Monologues co-written with Irma Mayorga (University of Texas Press) and an edited volume of Zapatista communiqués titled Conversations with Don Durito (Autonomedia Press).

In addition to plays, she has created a body of work that is interdisciplinary and includes multimedia performance, dance theater, performance installations, guerilla theater, site-specific interventions, and community gatherings. Virginia has taught writing for performance at the university level, as a public school teacher, in community centers, women’s prisons, and in the juvenile correction system. She holds an MFA in Writing for Performance from the California Institute of the Arts and is the Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence at Cara Mía Theatre in Dallas, Texas and a Matakyev Research Fellow at the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands at Arizona State University.