Princess, Goddess, Witch, Weaver

A stage reading by Karen Lisondra The author calls upon the true heroes of Homer’s epic adventure to guide her through the odyssey of illness.

Sat., Feb 22, 2025 - 7pm InterUrban ArtHouse 8001 Newton Dr OP,KS 66204

photo credit: JULIE DENESHA/KCUR 89.3

ROBERT CASTILLO TINA BILBERRY DRI HERNAEZ ASTRID MIER Y TERAN JIBAJA JULIA OTHMER KAREN LISONDRA (AUTHOR)

TINA BILBERRY (CALYPSO) Sensational music multi-talent K’Tina (Kay Tina) has spent her lifetime passionately immersed in the arts. A classically trained violinist based out of Kansas City, with a Master’s Degree in Violin Performance, K’Tina has expanded her skillset, education, and capabilities at every opportunity in an effort to be the best version of herself both personally, and as a professional artist. Her adventurous spirit and radiant enthusiasm led her to making music with remarkable versatility, playing in styles ranging from Classical, Baroque, Gospel, R&B, Pop, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Tango, Folk, to her own unique improvisational live shows. With a highly refined emotive & expressive approach to music that brings boldness & beauty straight to the surface, K’Tina plays with audibly stunning technique and the true desire to entertain all who listen. K’Tina’s dedication to music rewarded her with the prestigious honor of becoming Concert Master for the Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City and for the renowned tale of The Nutcracker as presented by the highly-skilled group of young artists she led from The Lawrence Arts Center Ballet Christmas Show. She’s also had the good fortune to perform regularly with Gospel music group Yielded Vessels, with the South American fusion-based band the Amado Espinoza Trio, the curious cartoon jazz noir band GAV7D, and Argentinian Tango band Cucharada, traveling all over the world to play shows in countries throughout the globe like Canada, Kenya, Spain, Argentina, Jamaica, & Germany. https://kaytinamusic.com

ROBERT CASTILLO (ULYSSES, DOCTOR, SURGEON 1, SURGEON 2, HUSBAND, ACUPUNCTURIST, CHIROPRACTOR, PHYSICIAN’S ASSISTANT, NURSE, DR. V, SHAMAN, ONCOLOGIST, BROTHER, DARIO, COOKIE) Robert Anthony Castillo Brea (b.1992) is a multidisciplinary artist working across music, visual art, stone sculpting, and literature. A first-generation U.S. citizen born in Kansas City to a Mayan-speaking father from Mexico’s Yucatá n Peninsula and a Dominican mother, his work is driven by a deep curiosity about existence and human potential. Trained in jazz bass with a degree from North Central College (Naperville, IL), he has performed across the U.S., Latin America, and Europe. From 2016-2020, he led the contemporary jazz ensemble The Sextet, releasing three albums of his compositions and arrangements. Beyond jazz, his genre-blending tendencies manifest in compositions ranging from classical symphonies and solo piano works, to electronic music and dynamic DJ sets.

In 2018, he expanded into visual art, leading to international exhibitions and a master’s degree in Artistic Production from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Valencia, Spain). His thesis, "Shadows of the Empire," explores Indigenous identity and colonial impact. His visual art includes Mayan iconography, refined geometric abstraction, portraiture, and stone sculpture, with a Carrara marble piece acquired by the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in 2023. Castillo has also participated in cultural exchanges, taught at Avila University, and engaged in arts advocacy. His latest project, "Glorified Ants," is a hard science fiction novel examining AI’s long-term societal impact. Currently based in Kansas City, he plans to move to Guatemala in August 2025 to serve as a PeaceCorps Youth Development Coordinator, continuing his commitment to artistic exploration and cultural dialogue. For more information, please visit www.robertcastillo.art.

DRI HERNAEZ (NAUSICAA) Dri Hernaez (She/Her) is an actor pursuing work in Theatre, Film, and TV, she is determined to continually represent and tell stories about the experience and culture as a Filipino-American.

Professional credits include: The Heart Sellers at TheatreWorks Colorado Springs, The Heart Sellers and Poor Clare at the Unicorn Theatre, Gulag Girls with Rising Tide Productions in the 2024 KC Fringe Fest, Cyrano De Bergerac, Peter Pan & Wendy and A Christmas Carol with the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

Film experience includes feature film: Once I Was Engaged playing Leilani (2021). Her Educational credits include a Masters in Fine Arts degree (M.F.A) in Acting and Directing from the University of Missouri - Kansas City Conservatory 2024 and the Labyrinth Theatre Intensive Ensemble in 2022. @dri_hernaez

ASTRID MIER Y TERAN JIBAJA (PENELOPE) Astrid Mier y Teran Jibaja, who works under the name of Kunturwarmi (meaning condor-woman), is an Andean multidisciplinary visual artist and performer, born and raised in Peru. Based in the timeless concepts of the Andean and Amazonian Cosmogony, her work explores the iconography and contemporary expressions of her ancestry, maintaining a living heritage that has resisted colonial oppression and "progress". Astrid moved to the United States in 2003 after spending three years as a student at the National Fine Arts School and previously the Art & Design Institute Toulouse Lautrec. She attended KU in Spring 2008, before taking a break to focus on raising her two small children. She was awarded an artist’s residency program at EPIC Arts in Kansas City, KS in 2021, exploring Indigenous narratives that connect the community with the land. From 2023 to the present, she has been commissioned to create murals and assist other muralists in large projects. She has also been exploring pre-Columbian and pre-Inca weaving techniques to incorporate in her artwork. When not working on cultural endeavors, she enjoys cooking and weaving.

She resides in Old West Lawrence with her partner and their two cats. @kunturwarmi

JULIA OTHMER (CIRCE) Julia Othmer is an emotionally potent singer-songwriter. Her pianodriven performances are mesmerizing fusions of raw power, vocal artistry and joy. Passionate and engaging, Othmer creates intimate warmth with her audiences. The child of refugees, Othmer draws from a richly cultured palette of experience to inspire her intensely human yet otherworldly songs. Using music to connect to people and social issues inspires her. Othmer is one of seven artists selected to represent the USA for Global Music Match 2021 and an Official Showcasing Artist at Folk Alliance International. Her current project THE FORCEFIELDS debuted their multi-media immersive experience at Charlotte Street Foundation and are building a European and UK festival and theatre tour.

Her award-winning music has been featured on NPR and the BBC, in film, TV, and video games. Songwriting awards include the Billboard World Song Contest Finalist and the International Songwriting Competition Semi-Finalist. She tours internationally and has shared the stage with a range of artists including Emmylou Harris, Sarah McLachlan, The Alarm and Regina Spektor. www.juliaothmer.com www.theforcefields.com Photo: @annaazarov

KAREN LISONDRA (AUTHOR/SISTER/ TIMMY) Karen Lisondra is a theater maker that weaves the contemporary and ancestral, creating works that interrogate ourselves and our societies.

Locally, she wrote and directed a spanish-language radio-play for KC Public theater; created and directed a devised show for UMKC MFA Theater program, (which later went on a 5 city Bolivian tour), codirected and danced in We are the Landscape, a contemporary performance offering. She has been Associate Director for KC Rep’s Peter Pan and Wendy, and their Ghost Light Festival. As a performer, she was an original company member of Argentina’s post-modern Fuerza Bruta, and toured the globe as Calypso in el Teatro de los Andes’ version of Homer’s Odyssey. Karen has been a Charlotte St. Resident, a Lighton Artist Exchange Grant recipient to Chile, an artist in residence with Teatro Tierra in Bogotá , Colombia, and with Teatro Epi d’Or in Pontigny, France. She has trained with renowned directors in South America (Guillermo Angelelli, Gabriel Chamé, Cesar Brie).

Karen has taught Ashtanga Yoga and meditation since 2015, and has been a four-time guest yoga instructor for Yoga at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. She trains Chen-style Tai Chi with Chen Huixian, 20th generation direct descendent of Chen family Tai Chi in Kansas City, and Chen Bing in Chenjiaguo, China.

She recently founded Ayllu Arts (pron. I-You), with ex-husband Amado Espinoza and good friend Pedro Calderon, bridging our communities to ancestral wisdom through original performance, internal and expressive art forms, ritual and ecology. www.aylluarts.org

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Through an InterUrban ArtHouse award, this project is generously funded by Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.