Voices of Northern California No. 1: Nicole Limón

inside the creative journey of a Sacramento trailblazer: PT 1

This month, I’m launching a new series here at Meanderings spotlighting artists in Northern California. Our region is packed with absurd amounts of talent. I’m excited to use this series to continue to point NorCal residents to unique, local offerings, and to advocate for the advent of an arts renaissance. 

It’s a true honor to kick things off with Nicole Limón. Nicole is the founder of Sacramento’s Matriarchy Theatre and Sacramento Theatres of Color (SacTOC). She is an actor, a director, a dramaturg, theatre faculty at CSU Sacramento, and so much more. Given Nicole’s incredibly thoughtful answers, and how much we had to chat about, I’ve split this interview into two-parts, with part two dropping on Tuesday. Nicole's passion for theatre, her dedication to uplifting women+ voices, and her emphasis on community-building shine through in this conversation. I hope you enjoy! - Melissa

In your recent interview with Yura Sapi on the Building Your Own Table podcast, you described your creative superpower as an ability to authentically witness others, and to reflect them back to themselves, saying  “That’s the superpower: I see you, and I want you to see yourself. That’s the gift.” Can you share how this ability to see and reflect others shapes the work you do at Matriarchy Theatre and how it influences the stories you choose to tell?

What a powerful question! My work has long been about creating a space for people to see themselves, to honor their authentic self, and to be unapologetic about who they are. A space where you are in a community of people who value diverse sensibilities and ways of being. While we may have similarities that bring us together – whether that’s a love of theatre, or our gender, or our culture – ultimately the magic lays within the specificity of our individual nuances and experiences – and honoring that in ourselves and in each other is what binds us, creates empathy, and makes ways for our stories to be told with care, love, and authenticity. So many times, I have encountered beautiful storytellers and theatre makers, rich with depth and creativity, who are afraid to tell their story in their own way, who measure their personal artistic aesthetic up against a mainstream, default “idea” or paradigm of what theatre and storytelling should look like. That’s when I’ve taken the liberty to say, “you need an opportunity to show what YOU can do, to practice your art form. Let me create one!” And it’s an internal mission I have that is both intentional and all at once intuitive and organic.

Why did the name “Matriarchy” resonate so much with you? 

Women leading. Creating pathways of care. Uplifting the feminine. Prioritizing community and connection, connection to the land, to spirit and to each other. My work has been about centering women+ voices from an indigenous perspective for much of my theatre career. It was the most resonate, divinely timed gift from the ancestors when the name Matriarchy Theatre came to me. I still get chills. It seems like such a no-brainer of a name, as if I thought of it all on my own, but truly the name came to me. I feel like it was my ancestors telling me what my mission is. Like, “you’ve put in all this work, to your craft, to your community, to your spirit, mind, heart, now you’re ready to do what you were put here to do.” It was a theatre name and a calling. It honestly created the path that I’m walking on now, and I can’t even begin to describe how grateful I am that it chose me. That being said, it is a huge undertaking. It is a lot of responsibility to meet the name consistently. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am honored, humbled, and a vessel really. At the same time, it is empowering! To me and our Matriarchy Theatre community.

In 2016, you made the choice to leave your day job of 10 years in order to pursue your creative work full time. How did you make this choice economically possible for yourself? What was that shift like for you? Was it in any way challenging to feel that your creative work was worthy of such a risk? 

I’m a firm believer in “paying yourself first,” and saving money, so I always have a contingency fund and an emergency fund. It’s important to me to have that safety net. Once I knew I wanted to transition out of that job, I started saving a lot more and spending a lot less, working to ensure I’d have enough to take care of me and my boys for an extended period of time. In addition to that job, I was also simultaneously teaching part time at Sacramento State University, so I had that income as well. The first few months after I left, there was such a sense of joy and relief. But, I will say that the next 12 to 18 months after I left was extremely financially stressful for me. I went from making a ridiculous amount of money to budgeting everything down to the penny. It was probably one of the most challenging times of my adult life, but I will say that the Excel budget sheet I made came in clutch! LOL! As a mom, my number one priority was to make sure my children were taken care of, had what they needed, and didn’t feel the pinch. I can’t say I was entirely successful at that last part. I’m sure my oldest was aware of the financial dynamics to a certain degree, but at the same time, he had everything he needed. And I’m very good at living within my means. I don’t have debt. I don’t feel the need to “keep with up the Joneses,” so to speak. Eventually I started picking up freelance work, paid directing projects, taking on more classes at the University which was such a joy, and I had time to build my art practice. I knew I had to go through a temporary period of survival in order to thrive again, so it was worth it.

My art has always been a priority, it’s like air, I need it to breathe and exist. It’s not something I aspire to, it’s just who I am. To me it’s not even a risk per se, but a “how do I do this? Let me figure it out.” While I worked at that day job – and I’m so glad you called it that because that’s ALWAYS how I framed it, as my day job, because I’m an artist and educator - while I worked at that day job I actually had a small art studio for a couple years, a collective with three other artists, called Blu Crow Studio on Riverside Blvd across the street from Vic’s Ice Cream. We had the space for a couple years and produced visual art shows, spoken word & poetry nights, used it for rehearsal space and second-Saturday events, one of the artists taught music lessons there. It was fun! It was a way to still be involved in art while working this high maintenance day job. At the time I had made a commitment to step away from theatre until my son was about 5, so that I could just spend time with him and focus on his childhood, and not have to worry about leaving him to go to rehearsal. I picked up painting and mixed media as an outlet to still create art, and my son and I would paint together. So, I really enjoyed having the studio. I could bring him with me, and enjoy art together. After a couple years though, I decided not to renew my lease, because I felt I was putting so much energy into producing other people’s work, but not spending enough time creating my own work. So, I moved my “studio” into the dining room of my home and that was truly enough.

Eventually, he turned five, and the theatre offers started coming in like clockwork. Divine timing.

It took you decades to fully realize Matriarchy Theatre. You’ve explained that the idea started as a kernel and slowly grew over many years, bolstered by your time on the board of Teatro Espejo. You launched in 2021, well into your adulthood and your career, and I’m curious what you might say to younger creatives who feel discouraged on their journey to actualizing their creative dreams? 

Oh wow! I always tell them that I’ve lived many lifetimes. And every lesson, experience, and even the mistakes got me here. I co-founded a theatre company in the late 90’s that ran into the 2000’s. And all that experience of creative and administrative work was brought with me into the art I continue to create. For me, there is no beginning and end to my art. I have Matriarchy Theatre, yes, but I still freelance as a dramaturg, and I paint, I write poetry, and I have been a beadwork artist for more than 30 years. Just keep creating, don’t put yourself in a box. People looking in from the outside often want to categorize artists, but just keep creating. Yes, get really, really good at the thing you love the most – for me it’s theatre - but keep doing the other art forms too if they call you. And honestly, have many dreams. When you make one come true, what else can you manifest? I always tell my students, give yourself permission. Don’t be the one to tell yourself no. Let someone else tell you no, but don’t be the one to do that to yourself.

I see so many young people have a reluctance to call themselves an artist. They say, “I want to be an actor, or director, or painter, or filmmaker.” I tell them you already are one! Maybe a beginning actor, but you are an actor, you are an artist. Folks often go first to the product – a performance, a painting, a published book - but my whole being is about process!! I tell them you are learning the work of your artform, but you’re already an artist.

I also often have students who are majoring in fields they don’t particularly enjoy, but they have, or feel they have, an obligation to their parent’s and family’s dreams for them. When they ask me what they should do – and this happens every semester - I usually tell them that at some point you will return to what you love. You can take the long road to following your heart or a shorter path, but if you are an artist, you’re always an artist and at some point you’ll return to yourself.

Teatro Espejo paid for your first Matriarchy Theatre production. This summer, you co-produced “Chicana Legend” together. I’m struck by the lack of competitive spirit between your theatres. I’d love to hear your thoughts about artists supporting other artists, and community-building amongst arts organizations. 

I honestly feel like that’s just a Nicole thing, lol! I’m not organically competitive in nature, I’m very much about making sure everyone is seen and has what they need. How can the collective care for the individual and vice-versa. I think I have always been that way, maybe unknowingly, and over the years have honed that sense of community and collective. I think that’s what drew me to theatre in the first place, the collaboration, ensemble and community spirit of it all.

When I direct newer artists, sometimes I’ll share a poem by Chicano theatre scholar/historian Jorge Huerta that starts with “Teatro is familia.” Oftentimes, new actors are enamored by the spotlight and applause, and the poem reminds them that teatro is about the community working and creating together. It is not about one star, or the lead character, or getting the laugh. It’s family, it’s community creating together.

When I came on board with Teatro Espejo I wanted to make sure we were shining our light on other communities. It was important to me to lift up our fellow artists and create a welcoming environment, building on what maestro Manuel Pickett had already created. But amplifying it even more and being extremely intentional with how we used our platform to create space, opportunity, reflection, and community. I wanted to create bridges.

In June 2023 I founded Sacramento Theatres of Color (SacTOC), a collective of local theatres and theatre makers whose work often reflects our communities and cultures. It was a way of simply having more visibility for the amazing work we are all already doing to develop artists of color in this city, and a way to uplift each other in our respective missions. When we came together to launch, it was like seeing family! There were folks there from Matriarchy Theatre, Teatro Espejo, Celebration Arts, All City Writers, Teatro Nagual, The MacBeth Project, Teatro Guadalupe, beloved Filipino artists from many theatre lineages, established and emerging artists, and beloved freelance theatre artists who had worked with many of the companies present. Most of us had worked with each other at some point. I think from the outside people think we are competing: for funding, for ticket sales, for the best talent. But I disagree. We are an ecosystem and we work together to nurture the theatre landscape here in Sacramento. SacTOC is about making that intentional and visible. We are here. We support each other. We are united. And man, are we talented!!

In a broader sense, what do you think it means to “be in community?” Practically speaking, what does it entail?

For me, being in community is an action, a verb, a thing we do because it brings life to us. To be together, to see each other, and be seen, to be affirmed. In community we witness each other, and I think that is such a beautiful gift, to witness others and to be witnessed and to recognize. It’s collective breath, and caring for one another. My favorite part of every show I direct or perform in is after the performance, when I get to meet new faces and say hi to beloveds. Seeing smiles, sharing hugs, and reveling in the joy of experiencing a story together – that is the power of community. The calling with Matriarchy is to hold space for all ways of being, to create a community that is truly inclusive. Because I don’t want it to be homogenous. It should be a place for everyone who shows up with a good heart, to be themselves and be celebrated.

You directed “Just a Pinch: A Uterus Play” last fall and it has been very well received. Can you tell me about the creative process behind creating the play, “devised theatre” and the mission behind the stories that were told? 

That play was an absolute joy to co-create! I was awarded an NEA grant for that project which really allowed me the opportunity to focus on the process in a way that was so satisfying as a creative. “Just A Pinch” came together in three phases over the course of a year. The initial phase entailed a lot of research, reading tons of books, and conducting a community survey to learn about people’s experience with outpatient reproductive health procedures. From those surveys, I conducted numerous one-on-one interviews with people who elected to be interviewed further about their experience. It is by far one of the most rewarding artist experiences I’ve encountered. To be trusted with the personal stories of people who were brave enough to share their experiences, to hold space for them – for them to even allow that space – my heart grew ten- and twenty-fold during this process. I learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of as a storyteller and a matriarch. After the interviews were completed – over the course of about 6 weeks– I notated and compiled all the information, identified common themes, verbiage, experiences, emotions, as well as the nuances of people’s lived experience. I wanted to let women+ know that they/we are not alone in this health injustice that has been normalized in American Healthcare, the expected pain that people with uteruses must endure because the medical industry is unwilling to catch up with reality. I wanted this play to honor those stories and experiences and create a path toward health justice.

After the research and interview phases, I created a devising and performance ensemble from an open audition call, and the most perfect group of people came together to create this production. Before jumping into devising, we started with a self-care workshop led by theatre practitioner, Bessie Zolno, who led us in practices around boundaries, consent, conflict resolution, and mental health care for artists. It was important to me as Artistic Director that we started with these tools as a collective, especially since we were working to bring very sensitive material to the stage. So, we started at a place where the artists were cared for, because my theatre work is always people focused first. Then, we moved into creating a working script and building a performance, which entailed a variety of writing and movement exercises, physical theatre sessions, some singing and poetry, instruments, and an abundance of deep, beautiful, bonding conversation about our own experiences. Through conversation we were able to include our own personal experiences in the work, while also bringing forth the experiences shared in the interviews and survey. One thing that was steadfast with this production, was that I wanted to use a mixture of performance styles. I didn’t find it necessary to have one unity of style. I wanted us to PLAY!! So we used physical theatre, verbatim theatre, abstract and absurdist theatre, monologues and dialogue, movement and experimental stuff. I wanted us to play and enjoy the creative process. Sometimes when you give yourself too many parameters they can be stifling. There’s certainly a place for that, but with this production I wanted to say let’s use all the different ways to tell a story and let’s see what sticks. I think we did pretty good because the response was beyond expectations. We have been invited to perform “Just A Pinch” in multiple places, so we are in the process of refining the script in the hopes that it can eventually be shared on more stages, and tour in the future.

Tune in next Tuesday, October 1st for the continuation of this conversation.

This interview was written in collaboration with my friend and editor, Mallory Taylor. To learn more about Mallory and her work, visit her Substack: This Could Be Embarrassing.

Are you an artist who’d like to be spotlighted in a future newsletter? Or perhaps you know of a fantastic, upcoming arts event? For press inquiries of all kinds, please email hello@melissaluvisi.com