Who is rising youth theatre?

Raeana Casillas (she/her/hers) is a first-generation immigrant with a passion for film and performance art. She has been a performance artist since she was nine years old. She graduated from Arizona School for the Arts in 2022 with an Arizona State Seal of Arts Proficiency. The work she does focuses on social justice and human rights. Raeana believes that by reaching people through performance art, we can make impacts our laws and open conversations across different communities. The first play Raeana participated in with Rising Youth Theatre was Antonia, a Chicanx adaptation of Antigone. She has continued to work with Rising Youth Theatre for eight years on multiple productions. Now, she is a Journeying Artistic Collaborator at Rising Youth Theatre pursuing a BFA in Film and Media Production at Arizona State University.

Kate Haas (she/her/hers) is a Phoenix-based performer, writer, teaching artist, and collaborator. She holds a BA in Theatre from Arizona State University, where she especially enjoyed working on the Student Production Board to help produce student-driven work. She has also been part of the ensemble with Childsplay since 2007, and has spent many months during the year touring theatre into schools and devising new work with her students. Kate believes in the power of art to stimulate conversation, empathy, self-expression, healing, and social change; and she is passionate about integrating the arts into educational curriculum. She also works in the Doctoring program at the UofA College of Medicine in downtown Phoenix, where medical students train to communicate efficiently and empathetically with their patients. Kate is the Financial Collaborator for Rising Youth Theatre, and has also appeared in The Light Rail Plays, which she loves due to its emphasis on creating art in unexpected places.

Trinity “Trini” Lugo (she/her/hers) is a 20 year old Latinx artist, poet, actress, and writer. She is a Transforming Artistic Collaborator with Rising Youth Theatre, where she has been working since 2016. She has worked as a director, performer, and crew member, but is most passionate about writing, and is the editor of Rising Youth Theatre’s online literary magazine, Speak Up Sound Off. Her favorite things to do are playing video games, reading books, and/or binge watching tv shows. She was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona but like most people, she hates the heat. She’s hardworking and a big dreamer. She hopes to leave her mark in the world.

Julio-Cesar Sauceda (he/him)  is a Producing Artistic Collaborator and leader with Rising Youth Theatre. He is a writer, filmmaker and storyteller who is artistically and personally motivated by social movements and research and is passionate about mentorship and learning from young people. He was a member of the 2020 Hispanic Leadership Institute cohort and is currently an MFA in playwriting at Arizona State University and completing certification in Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process. 

Sarah Sullivan (she/her/hers)  is a theatre artist, arts administrator, and writer living, working and creating in Phoenix, Arizona. She is a Producing Artistic Collaborator at Rising Youth Theatre, where she focuses on administrative and operational work, building systems that create systemic change and support radical and innovative artmaking. She holds an MFA in Theatre for Youth from Arizona State University and a BS in Theatre and English from Northwestern University. Her background is in both creative and administrative work, having taught and directed all over the Phoenix area, and previously serving as the Director of Development for Childsplay in Tempe. She makes art because it’s how she makes sense of the world, how she builds connections and bridges between people, how she learns and grows.  

Xanthia Angel Walker (she/her/hers) is an ensemble-based theatre artist, director, facilitator, creative strategist, and educator. She works locally, nationally, and internationally at the intersections of multigenerational collaboration, site-specific performance, justice, dialogue, and community. She earned an MFA in Theatre for Youth from Arizona State University. Xanthia is a Producing Artistic Collaborator of Rising Youth Theatre. Xanthia is also a founding member of the Las Fronterizas Ensemble, which creates original multidisciplinary work to honor, celebrate and visibilize stories of people and place that shape binational communities. Xanthia is a certified facilitator of Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process. She works with the Design and Arts Corps at Arizona State University, dedicated to learning that centers community wisdom in community-engaged partnerships and practices in arts and design. She is the winner of the 2015 Phoenix New Times Big Brain Award in Performing Art. Her writing is featured in the anthology Staging Social Justice: Collaborating to Create Activist Theatre. She is honored to be a part of the reproductive health ecosystem as co-Chair of the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood Arizona.