About

headRush combines popular theatre and  spoken word comedy to create a unique rush of psycho-político satire that ignites critical dialogue and social action. Made up of Oakland CA-based writers/performers/educators, headRush makes complex issues accessible and relevant to diverse audiences through dramatic multi-media storytelling and interactive workshops. 
    Since their debut in 2003, headRush has maintained a strong performance record, bringing hard-hitting, original productions to schools, universities, conferences, cultural centers, theatres and public spaces throughout California and beyond.
      The group creates multilingual, intercultural performances that audiences can relate to regardless of ethnic background by interweaving physical theatre and innovative sound and visual design.  They creatively re-appropriate elements of spoken word, rap, opera, pop music, slapstick, Mexican folk ballads, commercial jingles, puppetry, and Brechtian-style agit- prop to illuminate the absurdities of our global reality.  
    Recognized for their contributions to the genre by local theatres and arts centers, in 2006 they were awarded the prestigious three-month Artist in Residency fellowship at Montalvo Arts to create new work.  In addition to their own creative work, they conducted a six-week master class at a local high school.  Impressed with the success of their youth program, Montalvo Arts commissioned the group to curate and direct a multi-arts summer camp at the facility in 2007.   headRush continues to engage in school-based residencies throughout California and tour their work (performances and workshops) to theatres and Universities at the national level.
    In addition to artist residencies, headRush has also been awarded funds to create new works from sources such as the Irvine Foundation, the Zellerbach Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.  They recently received funds from the City of Oakland Cultural Funding program to conduct a street theatre tour through East Oakland in collaboration with local businesses and community-based organizations.
    Most recently, La Peña Cultural Center of Berkeley, California and SuTeatro of Denver, Colorado are commissioning a new play by headRush through the National Performance Network (NPN).  As part of this project, headRush will be in residence at several venues throughout the country, performing and conducting workshops. 
    This hybrid performance and popular education crew is becoming nationally recognized for their unique, socially-conscious productions and highly engaging workshop style.

has been dedicated to teatro since first attending a
Summer workshop at El Teatro Campesino in 1990 and has been active in producing work for his community in East Salinas, starting with his one-man show, “Zero.”  He has starred in numerous theatre productions with Teatro Campesino and Los del Pueblo Actors Lab.  In 1993 he co-founded a community-based performance troupe called Los Illegals Comedy Clica.  LICC has performed in venues in and around the state with an emphasis on at-risk populations, including juvenile detention centers and public schools. From 1997 to present, xago has been a member of Baktun 12, a hip-hop theater crew from East Salinas.   He now lives in East Oakland and leads theatre workshops for middle and high school students. In addition to teaching, he is a member of headRush, an Oakland-based a spoken word teatro troupe.  He has an M.A. in theatre at the Experimental Performance Institute at New College of San Francisco and an M.F.A. in Creative Inquiry from the California Institute for Integral Studies.

is a popular educator, writer, and visual & performing artist. As coordinator of popular education for PILA (the Partnership for Immigrant Leadership and Action), she helps link political education and community organizing. She designs curriculum and facilitates theater-based workshops and townhall meetings for critical community dialog. Rosa is also a member of headRush, a psycho-political performance and popular education crew dedicated to inspiring working class communities through a blend of spoken word and teatro-style political satire. In 2002, she wrote and directed her first play, “My Camino Real,” produced by Los Del Pueblos Actors’ Lab and staged at MACLA in San Jose. She writes to evoke spirit, inspire young people and honor her ancestors. Rosa has a Masters in Latin American Studies from Stanford University and a Masters in Teaching from the Arts in Education program at the University of San Francisco. 

was born into El Teatro Campesino (The Farmworker's Theatre) and served as its Associate Artistic Director for five and a half years before leaving the company in 2005. His father, Luis Valdez, is widely considered to be the father of Chicano theatre and it was during his time at E.T.C. that Lakin received most of his training as an actor and director under the tutelage of his father. Using the same techniques that were developed and created at E.T.C., Lakin utilizes this methodology to train performers and conduct workshops. In 2006, Lakin made the decision to uproot and move to the Bay Area to pursue his work as an actor, director and playwright. Since his arrival, he has had the privilege of working with such artists as headRush, Octavio Solis, Andrew Saito and Violeta Luna. In the last two years, Lakin has been developing and performing his solo-performance piece entitled "Victor In Shadow" based on the life and death of famed Chilean singer/songwriter Victor Jara. He is scheduled to perform “Victor” at the world renowned Hemispheric Institute Theatre Encuentro in Bogota, Colombia in August 2009.