By Marisol Canales

“A ball of fire!” This is how 20-year-old Aisha San Roman would describe her character Carmensita in “Mariachi Girl”. A theatre major at the University of Texas at Austin, San Roman proclaimed her role as the lead to be life changing.

“I had the opportunity to touch so many lives – from 4 and 5-year-olds to grandparents,” said San Roman. “It was amazing.”

Written with a bilingual twist, “Mariachi Girl” was successful in reaching a wide rage of audiences from both languages. All were able to fully engage in the play’s message without feeling turned off, and on the contrary, gave a closer connection to many.

“At least from my perspective, I see [machismo] all the time. It is respectable to a certain extent, but not once it starts taking away rights from women.” said San Roman as she recalls the machismo lifestyle and gender roles that were aggressively implemented throughout an earlier period in the Mexican culture. “Adults in the audience have memories of how they grew up. . .It made me teary-eyed at one point because it’s hard to imagine that they had to go through that.”

“When I started [“Mariachi Girl”], I didn’t realize the impact that it would have on people or even me.” said San Roman. “It was eye-opening to the power of theatre.”

Offstage, San Roman enjoys hanging out with friends, singing and reading “novelas” (Mexican soap operas). Relating to her role as Cita, she has aspiring dreams to continue performing long after her college years. Nonetheless, she describes her parents as being very supportive.

Aisha San Roman with her parents after the world premier of “Mariachi Girl” at Zach Theatre Austin, Texas