The founder of Ay Caramba! Theatre strives to bridge the gap for underrepresented voices in the world of art.

Ecuadorian-Canadian emerging artist Yulissa Campos graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 2017 with two degrees — one in acting and the other in psychology. To pay off her student loans and support herself, she needed  a job, but from her experience as a minority in her classes, she knew that acting was not likely to be an option.

“Out of 10 auditions, I barely got one [role],” Campos said. “There was a moment where I didn’t get anything. I was being rejected for every single audition.” 

Campos was unhappy with the feedback she received from casting directors on how she was not what they were “looking for.” This left her with the underlying feeling that the decision was made based on her accent and looks.

“I had an accent — and I still have some accent,” Campos said. “I just felt like there isn’t a place for me in the artist community in Saskatoon.”

Her experiences became her motivation, and Campos took matters into her own hands by writing a play that she intended as a “quiet riot.”

“I thought, ‘You know what, if no one is going to give me a job, I will create my own,’” Campos said.

As a settlement support worker for about three years at the Saskatoon Open Door Society, Campos had the opportunity to learn about newcomers’ different cultures. With students transitioning to the Canadian education system being her main focus, it inspired her to write a play that had elements from her day-to-day encounters.

I, Frida is a play based on her personal experiences growing up in a Hispanic family and what she saw working as a settlement support worker. 

“I just wanted to give the message of keeping true to yourself when you don’t see anyone that looks like you, and not feeling that you don’t belong,” Campos said. 

Once Campos received a spot to take part in the 2020 Saskatoon Fringe Theatre Festival, I, Frida, along with the theatre group, was born. Campos pitched her idea to her former professor, Gordon Portman, who later became her dramaturge, and has now taken her story all the way to the Singapore Fringe Festival in January 2021. 

“Gordon pushed me to write my story, combined with what I used to see at work and what I wanted to see too if I were an actor in school,” Campos said. 

Ay! Caramba began to gain recognition after I, Frida received positive feedback at the Fringe Festival.

“It was very pleasing to see a four-star review and from there, that encouraged me to keep applying to other festivals, so one of them was the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival.”

Currently, they don’t have their own space for the theatre itself, so her home and renting in spaces such as The Refinery, are the only viable options.

“That’s a dream in the future … to get a space big enough to be funded by the government and have our own space where we can provide workshops and training to youth [and] minority youth who are wanting to become actors but can’t afford to go to university,” Campos said. 

As COVID-19 continues to affect people and all areas of life, including the arts community, Campos remains optimistic about the future of the theatre and the upcoming projects she has in store for the next few months.

“The biggest lesson that I took from the whole pandemic was that, no matter how hard things look, I feel like if you keep pushing and stay true to your goal, you will be forced in a way to reinvent yourself and grow,” Campos said.

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Kristine Jones A. Del Socorro | Culture Editor

Photo: Supplied | Yulissa Campos