Breath of Fire celebrates 10 years of tending the flame by publishing antholog

“We are called Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble, but really we are open to everybody,” said Sara Guerrero, Breath of Fire’s founding executive artistic director. “No one gets turned away for any reason.”

In 2011, Breath of Fire closed its physical space on 5th and Broadway in Santa Ana, but the desire to write and produce plays from under-served creatives continued to burn. The organization re-emerged in 2015, with a renewed focus on workshop and storytelling incubation.

Sara Guerrero, founding artistic director of Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble. (Courtesy of Alex Alba) “We used to do fully realized productions, but that is really expensive and really beyond our means,” Guerrero said. “What came out of our reemergence was an understanding that our community wanted us to come back.”

Then in 2016, Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble became a production community partner and resident artist at Grand Central Arts Center in Santa Ana, presenting heightened staged readings and productions in the 78-seat Grand Central Theatre.

Today, more than a decade later, the group remains committed to uplifting underrepresented voices as the only Latina theater company in Orange County.

“We have been a resident artist for Grand Central for over 10 years now. We have a home where we can continue to provide programming,” Guerrero said.

The work is still necessary, said Diana Burbano, literary manager at Breath of Fire

“The amount of Latin and Hispanic authors are 4 to 8% of published authors in the United States, depending on the sector. In the playwrighting sector, they are closer to 4%,” Burbano said.

Playwright and literary manager, Diana Burbano. (Courtesy of Alex Alba) In honor of Breath of Fire’s ongoing work over the last 10 years, the Theater Ensemble is releasing the book, “¡Fuego! Fire We Carry: 10 Years of Works presented by Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble” this month.

“‘¡Fuego!’ is a 10-year anthology of a lot of the work we have done in the community with our writers,” said Burbano. “It does include plays, it includes poetry, it has corridos (ballads) … it is full of different kinds of creative, artistic writing.”

Burbano and Guerrero edited the book along with Adriana Alba, chair of Breath of Fire’s board. The anthology contains pieces from 46 writers who each made creative contributions to the ensemble’s artistic community over the past decade.

In order to compile the book, Breath of Fire put out a call for submissions from any former participants.

“Then we had to go through and read all of the work, figuring out which pieces resonated with each of our chapters and where they would fit,” Guerrero said.

Revisiting some of the earliest work felt validating for the team. It was a reminder of how far they have come and a celebration of how much they have accomplished.

“Some of the pieces I know were some of the writer’s very first pieces of drama and they have gone on to do much wider work,” Burbano said.

Like Sigrid Gilmer, now a screenwriter who has written for popular television shows like “Claws” (2017), “Genius” (2017) and “Gossip Girl” (2021) and playwright Cris Eli Blak, most recently a staff writer on the Starz series “Power Book III: Raising Kanan.”

The work the Ensemble has produced over the last decade is often focused on Orange County, like “Cantos Cuentos y Corridos de Santa Ana” and “Canto de Anaheim” and readers will find portions of those pieces in the book.

Sara Guerrero holds a copy of Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble anthology, “‘¡Fuego!” (Alex Alba) Contributing writers also include 2026 Guggenheim Fellow for Drama & Performance Art, Elaine Romero and local author and educator, Lisa Alvarez, who published “Some Final Beauty and Other Stories” last year.

On Oct. 9, Breath of Fire will continue to tend the flame with a book release party at CSUF Grand Central Arts Center Theatre, featuring readings and excerpts from the anthology, along with other live performances from special guests.

“We’ve invited our contributing writers to either share their work live, or we have other artists in their place coming in to read and share,” said Guerrero. ”It’s never a dull moment when we get to together; it’s a celebration.”

An opening reception will begin at 7 p.m. with the house opening at 7:45 p.m. and the approximately 90-minute show beginning at 8 p.m. Copies of “¡FUEGO!” will also be available for purchase.

While the book celebrates the voices that helped Breath of Fire burn the last 10 years, Guerrero said she hopes the book will inspire the community to continue to burn for 10 more.

“It all goes back to the work we are doing,” said Guerrero.

The book release party for “¡FUEGO!” will be held Oct. 9 at CSUF Grand Central Arts Center Theatre in Santa Ana. Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 at the door. For details, visit breathoffire.org.

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Sarah Mosqueda covers Orange County food, art and culture for TimesOC. She previously worked as a staff writer in Food for the Los Angeles Times. She also has several years of experience in the restaurant industry, including as a proprietor. Mosqueda earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Cal State Fullerton.