“Killers” director Laura Banguero finds her calling at FIU

Duvasana Bisoondial | Staff Writer

While many end their educational journey after their undergraduate years, the curtains have not closed on Laura Banguero. 

After recently graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance in May 2024, 24-year-old Banguero reflected on her past work at FIU that shaped her experience in the performing arts and her journey to graduate school at the University of Central Florida .

Her first play during her undergraduate years at FIU was in Spring 2021 with “New Plays”, a compilation of short plays written and directed by students. The play was broadcasted on Zoom since COVID-19 was still widespread throughout the state.

However, it was not until a couple months later in Fall 2021 that she was able to direct a play she considers a breakthrough in her theatre career: “So You Think You Can Stay?”

The play centered around immigration in America, a topic near and dear to Banguero’s heart since she is Colombian.

“My friend, Ariel Cipolla, is a playwright from Miami,” commented Banguero. “And we worked together in creating this play that I wanted to do. He wrote it for me in a month and a half, and then we rehearsed it for another month.”

In “So You Think You Can Stay?”, a program is given out to the audience with a QR code on it. Throughout the hour-long play, the audience watched as the host, America, moderated a debate about immigration with five participants who argued their cases regarding why they should stay in the country. In the end, the play is flipped onto the audience, who scan the QR code and vote to choose who would stay.

“As an audience member, even if you didn’t have that, people were engaged and they were in at all times,” said Banguero. “But once you bring that up, the morality of the play is more impactful because now you actually have to think about it. It was the biggest passion project I’ve done so far.”

Paola Esterás, 25, also graduated at the same time as Banguero and worked as the lighting designer for “So You Think You Can Stay?”

“I love being involved in any type of play or theater, but [this play] specifically means a lot to the Hispanic community,” Esterás said. “I’m fortunate because I’m Puerto Rican and we get automatic citizenship. But for every other country that’s Hispanic, they don’t get that. They have to either escape their country and try to make it here, or they make it here but have to wait years for their citizenship.”

Esterás also praised Banguero’s work ethic and her effective communication when it came to working with others in the play’s crew.

“We both would collaborate,” Esterás reminisced. “We were just very open with communication, very open to receiving and giving any suggestions. And when she has a suggestion, she makes sure that I’m okay with it.”

Banguero (top right) with Michael Yawney (center) and the crew for “Killers” | Laura Banguero

Banguero’s most recent and final play that she directed was “Killers” by Michael Yawney in Summer 2024. 

The play, which tackles issues like drug abuse, revolves around a couple who suspect each other after a drug dealer’s murder and divorce. The couple then reunites many years later to solve the case and get to the root of their divorce.

“Michael Yawney, the playwright, has been my big directing inspiration all through my FIU process,” Banguero recollected. 

“It was a really quick thing. We like to call it a workshop. But it was really interesting and unexpected, as most projects are. You’re gonna start with an idea and then things just completely shift.”

Esterás had worked with Banguero again as a lighting designer for “Killers” and described the process to be easier than “So You Think You Can Stay?”

“At the point of “Killers”, I hadn’t practiced lighting as much,” Esterás commented. “But I think the fact that I was already familiar with the space helped. And I worked with Laura countless times, so it was really easy.”

When talking about tackling serious topics such as drug abuse in “Killers” and immigration in “So You Think You Can Stay?”, especially in today’s society, Banguero hopes to destigmatize the issues one play at a time.

“I think topics like that are necessary,” said Banguero. “I think that the more we create stigmas around heavy topics, then they’re going to remain stigmatized. People are going to try to avoid talking about it. And I feel like sometimes, you need to talk about it.”

Banguero is now doing her master’s in acting at UCF and aspires to continue directing more passion projects about immigrant stories that engage the audience unconventionally.