Perla Vanesa Barraza

(she/her/ella) is a teatrista and a formerly undocumented fronteriza. Originally from Tijuana, Mexico, she migrated to the United States when she was 3 years old. She is lucky to call the Bay Area her home and Tucson, AZ her hometown. 

It was when Perla was cast in the Borderlands Theater’s Production of El Ausente that she began to understand the importance of narrative. The play was about a father’s disappearance after crossing the Mexico-United States border and the impact his absence had on his family. Perla felt a deep connection as the story mirrored her own father’s incarceration and deportation story. It was through theater and community organizing that Perla felt the power of storytelling as a means for healing and as a means of disruption against harmful narratives.  Perla commits to continue uplifting her immigrant community in all that she creates. 

Perla holds a B.A. in Theater Arts from Mills College. Most recently she has stepped into the roles of Assistant Director and Touring Stage Manager on Yosimar Reyes', Prieto (The Living Word Project and With You Productions) and Assistant Director on Luis Alfaro’s, award winning plays, Aztlán (Magic Theater) and The Travelers (Magic Theater), and Kat Evasco’s, Be Like Water (With You Productions).

She has also performed in multiple Rolling World Premieres including Richard Montoya’s, Nogales (Campo Santo), Hilary Betis’, Ghost of Lote Bravo, Milta Ortiz’, Más (Borderlands Theater), and Paul Flores’, Pilgrim St/Stockton 21 (The Living Word Project).

Outside of the theater, Perla supports Bay Area artists as the Narrative and Applied Stories Program Manager at Youth Speaks, Inc. Whether she is supporting the project management and planning of the next Brave New Voices Festival, drafting artists contracts, managing project budgets, she is proud to be building community with artists of all ages and color.