Perspectives: An interview with Mexican actress Julieta Egurrola
Julieta Egurrola is starring in GALA's production of I Too Speak of the Rose
Julieta Egurrola feels “a little awkward.”
And not just awkward, but unsettled.
“Everybody is anxious to see what’s going to happen with all this,” says one of Mexico’s leading actresses.
All of this, of course, is Trump and his belligerence toward our southern neighbors, as well as intolerance toward immigrants, both illegal and otherwise.
“I’m not scared,” says Egurrola, currently starring in I Too Speak of the Rose at GALA Theatre. “I don’t think I, as a Mexican, have to be scared…. We have a different point of view of what’s going on here: ‘Why did you elect who is now in charge?’ But we’re not scared. Just aware. Paying attention.”
The current political climate mirrors, somewhat, the action of Rose, which focuses on two Mexican teenagers who accidentally derail a train, resulting in a media frenzy and socio-political examinations into “the truth.” Written by the late, gay Mexican playwright Emilio Carballido, the drama offers multiple perspectives on the event. Egurrola plays a character who tries to help people understand the event’s different realities.
“We can see in the world right now, everyone is looking at one thing [from] different perspectives,” she says. “Economical, political, social, sexual, whatever. So I look in one way, you do another way. It’s not just mine that’s the truth. You will have yours and the psychologist in the play, or the teacher, or the other professors, they have their own way of looking at this incident these two teenagers provoke…. I like that it gives different points of view.”
A member of Compania Nacional de Teatro, Mexico’s national theater company, Egurrola calls it ironic that she’s only now starring in her first Carballido play — and while away from home. She loves the beauty of Washington, but for one thing.
“The cold — that’s the only thing that scares me here,” she laughs. “I don’t want to catch a real cold here.”
I Too Speak of the Rose, performed in Spanish with English surtitles, runs to Feb. 26 at GALA Theatre at Tivoli Square, 3333 14th St. NW. Call 202-234-7174 or visit galatheatre.org.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.