“Bella Luz represents the strength of Latina women and the invisible threads connecting them across distance,” Lainfiesta says. “The play carries a lot of humour, and it has a lot of heart – there are moments that will really move and touch people’s hearts.”

A reading of Bella Luz will take place at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts on Jan. 29. For Lainfiesta, the play is not only a story about borders and paperwork; it also concerns memory, lineage and the emotional costs of living in an “in-between” space.

An odyssey of the in-between

“We’re always in the in-between,” says the playwright. “It’s a narrative that I think will resonate with many people who come here as immigrants, especially people who are immigrating from Central America.”

Lainfiesta has firsthand experience of this in-betweenness. The playwright – who was born and raised in Guatemala – moved to Canada alone. She experienced the isolation that often accompanies migration, alongside the bureaucratic challenges of the immigration system.

Bella Luz follows three characters – a grandmother, mother and daughter – each navigating opposing views on how immigration affects one’s sense of growth and belonging. Lainfiesta sees this intergenerational dynamic as reflecting tensions familiar to many immigrants: staying versus leaving, safety versus belonging and sacrifice versus loss.

“They represent three generations of women that would have big journeys and [deep] bonds for all the Latina women,” Lainfiesta says of the characters described as “fun to play.” “Everybody has so much on their plate and so much of their lived experience is affecting so much of the narrative.”

The play is set in three locations: Toronto, Canada; Antigua, Guatemala; and the third is what Lainfiesta calls the “Nowhere World” – a surreal place where the immigration system is staged as a series of game shows.

The overlap of these worlds captures how decisions in one place resonate across emotional and geographic borders. Lainfiesta is proud of how the play makes immigrants’ “massive journey and experience” accessible for others to understand.

Balancing critique and humour

“The importance is to find our own identity and try to find roots to grow our sense of belonging in a new Earth and finding each other or a community of others like us to create our own Latin Canadian identity,” the playwright emphasizes.

The title Bella Luz – Spanish for “beautiful light” – reflects her ethos of community building. For inspiration, Lainfiesta imagined “a dream role” that she would love for any Latina to play.

“[My protagonist, Sumailla] would not be able to have that fire in her if it wasn’t for the connection that she has with her mother and grandmother back home,” the playwright adds.

Lainfiesta was a recipient of The Lieutenant Governor’s Platinum Jubilee Arts and Music Award in 2022. Bella Luz is her first full-length play. For the playwright, humour comes “naturally” – a tool that is “always there.”

“Humour is such a big part of our culture and of who we are,” she adds. “We use humour so much – sometimes to even survive really hard and tragic situations.”

She hopes other writers are inspired to create their own stories for the stage. She sees connections with others – through the sharing of lived experiences – as crucial to building community.

“It will really move me if people see themselves or their journeys and stories as immigrants reflected on stage,” Lainfiesta says. “I would love for the Latin Canadian community to come see it. Laugh and cry together and feel connected.”

This reading of Bella Luz is part of Ruby Slippers Theatre’s Advance Theatre Festival (Jan. 26–30). Produced in association with the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and Playwrights Guild of Canada, the festival showcases new works written and directed by IBPOC artists who also identify as female or gender non-conforming.

For more information about the upcoming reading, see www.rubyslippers.ca/advance-theatre-festival-2026

For more information about Alexandra Lainfiesta, see www.alexandralainfiesta.com