By Jake Thomas

Renegade Theater is doing transformative work. They are producing high quality dramatic art and building a supportive community for LGBTQIA+ teens here in Santa Cruz. Taking this movement a huge leap further, Artistic Director Kyle Vasquez has started an annual fundraising event in the form of a staged reading to create Renegade’s Rainbow: Casper’s Memorial Fund. Their goal is to raise money to provide scholarships for teens who need financial support to be a part of theater. This year, on Saturday, they will hold a staged reading of the play “Stop Kiss,” written by Diana Son, in collaboration with the Santa Cruz Actors’ Theater.

The inspiration for this event stems from two tragic events. First, there was the death of Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old nonbinary teen from Oklahoma who was badly beaten in their high school bathroom and subsequently overdosed on medication. In response to this horrific event, Renegade Theater staged a reading of “The Laramie Project.” They raised $1,200 and donated the money to Nex’s funeral fund and to Trans Families of Santa Cruz, a local organization that works with queer youth. The next tragedy hit much closer to home, as a youth actor from Soquel, Casper (Damian) Miller, took their own life in April. In response to this shocking loss, Renegade Theater has started a scholarship fund to honor their friend.

Vasquez commented on their desire to support queer youth, understanding how challenging it can be to grow up in a culture that is not accepting of gender differences. “When Casper took his life, it really scared a lot of people. There was a sense of emotional devastation for this beautiful, sweet, kind and sensitive human who just felt so crushed by what is happening in our society that he couldn’t be here anymore,” she said. It was a shocking reminder that even in a seemingly supportive community like Santa Cruz, our queer teens are at risk. To combat those dangers, Vasquez transforms her theater company into a powerful creative force, attracting a band of artist-activists, theater-lovers and supporters of queer teens to take up the cause.Among those passionate young actors are Alex Delgado and Elektra Shrader, starring in the staged reading of “Stop Kiss” as Callie and Sara. Fresh off her performance with Renegade in “Cabaret” and as Ophelia in Cabrillo’s “Fortinbras,” Shrader spoke about the creative process, saying, “We talked about the elephant in the room, which was violence against queer people and women, and we were able to kind of just acknowledge that as part of what we were getting into, but also how it would be a very supportive space and not something that was very strict or rigid or exclusionary.”

Shrader continued, “I love plays that are very much surrounded by and situated within the queer or the feminine experience. That’s where I thrive a lot, because I relate to it, but also because I feel like those are underrepresented stories that are not as glorified as they should be.”

For Delgado, who has a background in opera — including work with the Santa Cruz Opera Project — musicals and teaching, this is an opportunity to risk vulnerability by stepping into a dramatic role where the artistic effect depends entirely upon the words spoken on stage.

Delgado shared, “I heard about Renegade Theater Co. from a few of my friends who had been involved in productions, and I had seen that Renegade was advocating for queer representation and I thought that was really cool. I saw the audition post for this play and that it was going to be a benefit for trans families in Santa Cruz, and a scholarship fund for LGBTQ+ youth. So, as a teacher who works with a lot of young kids and as a queer person myself, it’s a cause that’s very important to me and a story that I think is really relevant right now.”

If you are interested in experiencing these up-and-coming actors perform a staged reading of “Stop Kiss” under the artful direction of Renegade Theater Co. founder Vasquez, you can find tickets and information at renegadetheaterco.org. There will be two performances of “Stop Kiss” Saturday at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Actors’ Theatre, 1001 Center St., Santa Cruz. Funds from this event will be split equally between Renegade’s Rainbow: Casper’s Memorial Fund and Trans Families of Santa Cruz.