We recently had the chance to connect with R Réal Vargas Alanis and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning R Réal, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
¡Buenos días! Thank you for having and oh my gosh, yes! I just finished a project I was a producer for not too long ago that I am really proud of!
I was a producer for ITMéxico and Bridging Turtle Island. I think this will give a great example of the scope of my work:
ITMéxico was a pilot residency I conceived and launched in 2024 in Sahuayo, Michoacán, through IN THE MARGIN (ITM). I created the residency in direct response to the growing censorship we’re seeing in the United States, where Indigenous people have been reprimanded or punished for things like simply wearing traditional regalia or practicing culture in public spaces. ITMéxico took place during the patron saint festivals, intentionally embedding our artists inside a community celebration rooted in ancestry, creativity, and liberation. It was designed as a space where artists could breathe, create, and exist without fear.
The residency brought together interdisciplinary artists and producers committed to developing new work across borders. For ten days, residents participated in in-person workshops, virtual lessons, cultural tours, and regalia-making sessions, while also strategizing around career pathways and sustainable producing structures in the U.S. The residency was co-curated. Artists had agency in shaping the experience and crafted an environment where experimentation, connection, and joy were central to their process.
The works conceived in ITMéxico were then brought to the United States through Bridging Turtle Island (BTI), a collaboration with Alternative Theater Ensemble in San Rafael, California this year, 2025.
The name “Turtle Island” comes from the worldview of many Native peoples who use the term to refer to this continent as a shared territory held together by the strength and wisdom of the turtle. The word “Sahuayo” is of Purépecha–my peoples–origin and means “place of turtles.” So Bridging Turtle Island becomes literal, connecting the turtles—which I thought was a really cool, symbolic gesture linking our communities across what we now call the Americas, creating pathways of resistance, memory, and artistic creation.
Bridging Turtle Island was a free, one-night-only event supported by a variety of community partners* and was held in San Rafael in a wonderful amphitheater under the stars at Dominican University of California, hosted by Marin Shakespeare Company.
(*supported by Marin Shakespeare Company, American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Rep, Theatre of Yugen, California Arts Council, Crowded Fire Theatre, La Lengua Teatro en Español, B Street Theatre, Matriarchy Theatre, Latinx Theatre Commons, Warrior Yoga, Teatro Nagual, Candela Playwrights Fellowship, Dominican University of California, Sexii Tacos, Loncheria los Pepes, and more
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am R. Real Vargas Alanis, a multidisciplinary artist and live-events producer working at the intersection of theatre, dance, music, visual art, culture, and community.
My work spans from live events producing and theatre production—theatrical producing, stage-directing, casting, performing, writing, dramaturgy. I also build systems and support structures. I’ve founded a nonprofit, helped run arts organizations, and consult collectives on leadership, administration, and creative sustainability. I co-lead two non-profits, IN THE MARGIN and Alternative Theater Ensemble, and helped start my family business Sexii Tacos. As a producer, I am known for big scale live events, nationally and internationally. I have produced artist residencies, art hops, ethnic studies conferences, cultural events, vendor markets, world premieres of theatrical works, festivals showcasing new theatrical plays. I have served as a producer for international events such as Encuentro de las Americas (2017), New American Theatre Festival (2021) and most recently ITMéxico (2024), and Bridging Turtle Island (2025).
As an instructor, I’ve taught at institutions such as American Conservatory Theatre, NYU and Princeton, where I’ve led classes in movement, the business of theatre, sketch comedy writing, clowning among other courses. I am a reverend and officiate weddings—if you need a queer officiant hit me up. I am a community organizer that believes in galvanizing my community for the greater good. Musically, I am a book and lyricist and I LOVE spending my time discovering new music, and crafting music with my composer friends. In the visual arts sector, I love to paint and sketch, pero, painting, drawing, sketching— that’s more private for me. It’s one of the art forms that helps my mind relax. Culturally, I’m a healer, an herbalist connected with the earth and the life it provides. I’m an astrologer who listens to the stars as my compass. I am a yogi and trained yoga teacher. I am a small-scale chemist, an artisanal distiller, botanical alchemist, and former biologist. I love learning new things and exploring what I’m capable of doing.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Dear Jesus, this is a deep question… A bond can be broken by many things: the loss of trust due to disappointment, neglecting the dynamic, a harmful action, selfishness, miscommunication or lack of communication––which can lead to misunderstandings––not being able to show up for one another in a time of need… many, many things can break a bond. What life has been teaching me is, to repair a bond, both parties must have the desire to rebuild it and be willing to put in the effort to do so. Time, difficult conversations, sometimes space, helps rebuild. When broken trust is addressed, and with effort, time can help rebuild it. When broken trust goes unaddressed, time can erode it… things get confusing when they go unaddressed and one can assume the worst.
It takes both parties willing to sit down and have uncomfortable conversations with the goal of listening to understand—holding space for each other’s emotions as we navigate through the conflict. We do our best to have grace for one another, and we remember the care and respect we have for each other, which is what helps fuel the desire to make amends. No relationship is perfect, and the closer we get to someone, the more likely we are to hurt each other … deeply—it’s the nature of love and connection. I think what helps rebuild is intentionally crafting space and time for opportunities to craft new, positive, memories to make up for past harm. If we are to try to repair a bond, we’ll need those moments to help repair the trust, new moments will create a new dynamic. And the new dynamic might be stronger than the last.
This is all so much easier said than done. I have moments—I think many of us do—moments of regret, shame, or embarrassment, where I feel like I have damaged a relationship … sometimes, when we are in the situation, we don’t know how to navigate.
There are people in my life—moments in my life—that I wish I could go back in time and make amends, or handle the situation differently. People who gave me grace and I didn’t know how to receive it. I sometimes think about sending them a gaban or rebozo or something, stating how sorry I am, how I appreciate them; but as I mentioned, time is not always in our favor, and when time and distance becomes so grand, it makes one wonder if it’s too late. I do my best to learn from my mistakes and life’s lessons.
In reality, it’s hard, but we try, and it will be messy, and the dynamic will change and you must be okay with that, and whatever it might transform into. It might end or maybe it becomes more neutral, more outer circle, or maybe it becomes more beautiful than its last iteration. You might come to find the bond had a strong enough foundation to get through the hardship, which fortifies the relationship even further, because both parties demonstrated to one another how meaningful the bond is––how they cherish it enough and work to restore it. My friends have taught me that, to say, “Can we check in?” when things get rough. That it’s okay to say, “I’m mad at you.” or “I’m feeling dismissed” or whatever we might be feeling, that it’s okay to feel and communication our emotions even when they’re messy, while also working towards making changes for growth and making amends. If we would like to repair, let’s revisit boundaries with the goal of getting on the same page. I think, to be able to navigate in this way, and to have people in my life that navigate in the manner, is what helps me grow as a person. But again, much much easier said than done.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
To Young Me, you’re going to do soooooo many incredible things that if I recounted some of our highlights, you would never believe me because they would all sound fake. Our life is wild. You will travel all over the place, doing what you love and making many friends! There will be people on your journey who will attempt to persuade you to not follow your career path, and that you need to choose one discipline—do NOT listen to them. Your versatility is your greatest gift. Hone in on it. Explore everything, stay curious, keep learning, keep following your impulses to DO things. TRY things even when you’re scared. Do them more so when you’re terrified—do it for the plot, because then you can write about it later and profit off of the adventure, because writing is one of our professions. Keep learning, and take more audio engineering classes, because it would be fun to lean into music production more and be a DJ. Start ballet younger. Invest in an IRA sooner. Also, your work will be taught in theatre classes!
Wait, ONE kind thing?? Hmm… I’d say “I love you.”
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
I admire my parents. A lot. They are humble, they are leaders, doers, entrepreneurs, business owners, inventors, innovators, dancers, risk-takers, cooks, musicians, archivists, culture bearers, hard workers, resilient. They are kind, generous, and above all, they have open hearts—even for strangers. They believe in loyalty, in honesty, and integrity. In community and lifting each other up. A hard work ethic. Humbleness, and to party and celebrate even the little wins––to party when things get rough to get through the pain. I am proud to have their hearts be my role models, helping me grow my character.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
As a playwright, I have a canon of works in different genres, all that live within the same universe. That is a legacy I am working on, for it to exist long after I am gone.
May folx also say that I was a visionary. That I had these wild ideas but I somehow managed to make them come to fruition. That I was innovative. That I was a chameleon with my talents and I loved to expand my skillsets. That I loved my friends with all my hearts like they were my lovers. That I loved my family with my entire being. May people say I was kind. That I championed the work of many. That I lived to uplift my community. That my aura made rooms feel warm. That I made folx laugh. That I ruffled feathers and rocked boats. That I made mistakes because I am human. That I did my best to amend any wrong doings. That I loved to go to raves and dance through the night, until the early morning. That I was magic. That I knew how to work with the universe and the universe knew how to work with me. That I was cute with an intoxicating smile, and that my art—or that I, myself—was unpredictable.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.realvalanis.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realvalanis
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/realvalanis
Image Credits
Cristo Montañez
W. Fran Astroga
Woody Hunt
R. Réal Vargas Alanis
Amber Kay Ball
Ashley Purple Photo
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