Directed by Claren Grosz and Augusto Bitter
With music by Y Josephine
Co-produced with Buddies in Bad Times
as part of the Genrefuck Series

May 21-31, 2025 in the Buddies Chamber Space
ASL Interpretation May 22 and 29

Reina envisions the many lives of the anonymous woman depicted on a bag of Harina P.A.N. corn flour. A movement-centric hybrid between theatre, dance, and performance art that resists categorization, it invokes and celebrates personal femininity through a collection of poems, stories and choreographies in conversation with music by Y Josephine.

 

She taps her foot, in line for food. She gets elbowed in her kidney, she studies, she sips soup, she makes arepas, she puts on makeup. She studies, she sips soup, she makes arepas, she puts on makeup. She tugs on her Adam’s apple - can she remove it? - and flings her jaw across the room.

 

We’re excited to be presented at Buddies as part of Genrefuck: Four movement-driven solo pieces on the edge of gender and genre. Two intimate works converse and collide in a double-bill. The other piece is Julie Phan’s world premiere of Never Walk Alone, which uses pole dance to navigate alienation, projection and inertia within different relational spheres.

Photos by Eden Graham

Teaser by Drew Berry.

“Reina is a celebration … Jaime Lujan’s performance masterfully brings life to the titular character … Nathan Bruce’s lighting is immaculate.”

- NEXT Magazine

“[Claren Grosz and Augusto Bitter’s] set beautifully mirrors the multiplicity of potential lives and stories that Reina discusses, while lending a cozy and familiar feel”
“Lujan is dazzling”

- A View from the Box

“Wildly tantalizing”
“Lujan … utterly mesmerizes.”
“Sultry compositions by Y Josephine”
“Sexy, deeply charismatic.”

- Istvan Dugalin

“Reina walks big and wild into the hypnotic space … eating, kissing, climbing, grunting, and gyrating towards an unbinding”
“catchy and captivating music by composer Y Josephine”

- Front Mezz Junkies

Image by Fran Chudnoff

 

Artists

Creator, Co-Director, Co-Scenic Designer - Augusto Bitter
Co-Director, Co-Scenic Designer, Producer - Claren Grosz
Composition - Y Josephine
Performer - Jaime Lujan
Sound Designer - Mickey Rodriguez
Lighting Designer - Nathan Bruce
Festival Plot Designer - Shawn Henry
Stage Manager - Taylor Zalik-Young
Deaf Interpreter - Courage Bacchus
Deaf Consultant - Juan Jaramillo

 

This project is made possible with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, The Toronto Arts Council with funding from the City of Toronto, and the Ontario Arts Council.