ABOUT US
Centering women+ voices and stories, through an Indigenous lens.
We are storytellers.
All of us have a story that deserves to be told, to be heard, to be seen, to be embraced. Matriarchy Theatre is a collective that aims to lead with our stories, lift our spirits, and create community, while centering women+ voices, from an Indigenous lens.
Founded by theater artist and educator Nicole C. Limón in 2021, Matriarchy Theatre was created to bring underrepresented stories to the stage, to center women+ and matriarchal ways in the telling of our stories, and to offer a community-centered, consent-forward, inclusive theater making experience. Our goal is to showcase works that center women+, amplify the nuances of diverse lived experiences, and honor matriarchal ways of being: leading with care, community, agency, and a connection to the natural world. We work to shift the paradigm of the theatre industrial complex, and create a space where people can bring their authentic selves to the field, a space where play and liberation are exalted.
Meet our Founder & Artistic Director
Nicole C. Limón (Yaqui/Chicana) earned a double B.A. in Theatre and Native American Studies from CSU Sacramento, and studied at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto. After earning her MFA in Acting from UC Davis, Nicole acted, directed, wrote and produced numerous shows as a Sacramento based artist, before founding Matriarchy Theatre. She has been on the theatre faculty at California State University, Sacramento since 2012, and serves as the Associate Artistic Director of Teatro Espejo, in addition to her work with Matriarchy. She is an Associate Member of SDC, a member of LMDA, and received an NEA grant for the creation of JUST A POUND: A UTERUS PLAY. She enjoys using her platform to create opportunities for artists, and is called to cultivate spaces where people can show up as their authentic selves. Nicole is grateful to have been raised and nurtured by beautiful matriarchs.
In addition to her work with Matriarchy Theatre, Nicole collaborates with numerous theaters in the Sacramento and Northern California region. Select recent projects: DIRECTOR: Sanctuary City, Fade (Teatro Espejo,) House of Desires, Dance Nation (Sacramento State University,) Working for Crumbs (B Street Theatre New Comedies Festival,) By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Celebration Arts.) INTIMACY COORDINATOR: Iphigenia in Splott (Shotgun Players,) Hair (Broadway Music Circus,) Wolf at the Door (Teatro Nagual,) Fat Ham, Eureka Day, Unseen (Capital Stage,) Nosotros la Gente, Art of War (B Street,) Hurricane Diane (Big Idea Theatre,) Rashomon (Community Asian Theatre of the Sierra) DRAMATURG: Fairview, English, Fat Ham, Fade, The Heartsellers, Clyde’s (Capital Stage.) ACTOR: Carmen in Real Women Have Curves, Martina in Quantum, and Chavelita in the world premiere of Waiting for Godinez.
GUIDING MATRIARCHS
The Guiding Matriarchs are beautiful community leaders, artists and activists who serve as our advisory board. Matriarchy Theatre is grateful for their generosity, leadership, big hearts, and the ways they inspire us!
Founding Guiding Matriarchs
Dr. Angela Dee Alforque
Angela is an artist, choreographer, educator, and a founding Guiding Matriarch for Matriarchy Theatre. She grew up in a Filipino American family in South Sacramento; trained in dance, voice, and musical theatre; and earned her B.A. & M.A. at Sacramento State University, and Ed.D from Saint Mary’s College of California. She has taught theatre and dance for university, college, and K-12 institutions; worked professionally in tv & film casting; served on the creative teams for theatre and film productions; and has presented an exhibition, performance, and book for Prism Art Space entitled Fast Girls In Parked Cars. She is creative director of LOVE IN MOTION, a body of work rooted in community arts classes and events, mentoring, and interdisciplinary collaborations with Sacramento artists.
IG: @loveinmotion916
IMDB: Angela Dee Alforque
Katherine Bahena-Benitez
Katherine (she/they)is a Mexica-Indigenous actor, poet, dancer, director and model based in New York City and bicoastal with California. Katherine studied at California State University, Sacramento and has had the pleasure of performing and training with the American Conservatory Theater, 24 Hour Plays, the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, and Broadway Advocacy Coalition Theater of Change at Columbia University. Katherine is a Miranda Family Fellow, a LORT/ASPIRE Fellow and recipient of the John Cauble Emerging Arts Leader Award. Katherine has had their poems American Dream, La Morena, and Yo Ya No Rezo with Museum Guild and has been featured in Vogue and Apostrophes Digital Magazine ‘De La Tierra’. Katherine says, “Con Mucho Amor y Cariño I do this for Mi Gente, I do this for us.” For more of Katherine: @_imjstlivin https://linktr.ee/Katherinebenitez
Gia Battista
Gia (she/her) is a director, producer, performer and teacher. Gia is passionate about nurturing social change in all of her artistic and educational work. She is a founding artistic director of Davis Shakespeare Festival, a non-profit theatre company that served both Yolo and Sacramento counties. She served as a company leader for twelve years and co-led Vacancy Arts Collective, a project centering socially conscious works. While pursuing her masters degree in vocal performance at Sacramento State University, Gia expanded her artistic sensibilities in both music and opera. She was the stage director for Sacramento State University's Opera Theater program mora than five years and taught musical theater courses at Sacramento State and Sierra College. Gia is proud of her Mexican and Italian heritage, and draws inspiration and drive from the matriarchs that have guided her and her understanding of her cultural identity.
Founding Guiding Matriarchs
Roxana Damas, MBA
Roxana is founder and CEO of RGD Enterprises, Inc., was selected as a 2017 United Nations “Empower Women Champion for Change,” and a Board member of the UN Association East Bay. She is recognized by many national and international organizations for her work in Diversity, Social Change, Advocacy, and Coaching Skills. At the core and beginning of her career, Roxana is a true performer, singer-songwriter, and overall entertainer at heart. She is a public speaker, published author, and advocate for human rights. Roxana founded the non-profit Alquimia Global, which kicked off the Human Rights Taskforce for Children and Refugees in Detention and advocacy support to the UPR Human Rights process where she collaborated with platinum producers to release a song project to fundraise in support of refugee children in detention centers and at the border. She holds a Transglobal MBA from Saint Mary’s College of CA and a BA in Women & Gender Studies with a Minor in Globalization from UC Davis.
Eric Vincent Orosco
Eric is a queer writer and poet who works in higher education doing marketing and social media. They received their B.A from University of the Pacific in English with a focus in writing, and their M.A. in Leadership at University of the Pacific with a concentration in Organizational Innovation and Change. Previously Eric has worked at Sacramento Theatre Company and Shakespeare & Performing Arts Regional Company (formerly Livermore Shakespeare Festival). Visit EricOrosco.com to see their published works which center around identity, queerness, and recovering from disordered eating. They also created a collection of poems called American Standard, which explores those themes further.
Field Trip with the Matriarchs!
Above: Ensemble members enjoyed a day trip to MACLA San Jose to see “Riding the Currents of the Wilding Wind” by Martha Gonzalez and Virginia Grise, directed by Kendra Ware.