Playwright Herbert Siguenza making connections with his daily ‘Lunch Breaks’ sessions

Through virtual technology, the arts and culture community of San Diego is continuing to provide entertaining and enlightening content to us that we can access from our homes. This transition to virtual connection with San Diegans is happening across the board, from theater companies to visual arts institutions to music venues.

Herbert Siguenza, San Diego Repertory Theatre playwright in residence and a founding member of the comedy troupe Culture Clash, is hosting via the Rep’s website daily at noon his “Lunch Breaks with Herbert Siguenza.”

“What I do is I talk about what I’m eating for lunch,” Siguenza said, “and then I start reading or talking about what’s going on.”

What Siguenza is currently reading is a page or two of a new play he’s working on titled “Isaac Asimov: Grandmaster Funk.”

“He (Asimov) wrote a lot about apocalyptic scenes and so I just thought the play was a perfect metaphor for our times,” Siguenza explained. “The play’s about robotics and the human race being saved by technology.”

The “Lunch Breaks” are four to six minutes long and are reflective of Siguenza’s thoughtful writing.

“I’ve always commented on humanity, on the world,” he said. “I’m always observing what the world is doing and I report back through my writing.”

Siguenza taps another of his creative impulses on the show as well. “I also am a visual artist, and I’ll say ‘This is what I’m drawing today.’”

On his Facebook page, Siguenza is posting images he created of The Joker character from the recent film. “It (the movie) captured what we’re going through as a country and impacted me. It’s unsettling; it’s the yin and yang of life. We’re laughing and crying at the same time.”

But Siguenza is optimistic: “We’ll be back. But I hope we come back in a better place, as a better society.”

Coddon is a freelance writer.