After the opening night performance of the 2026 production of FITO, I sat down with the playwright and performer, Rudi Goblen, and his mentor and collaborator Teo Castellanos. While Mr. Castellanos’s name appears on the playbill as the director, he divulged that most of his direction on this show came not in the preceding week, but in the 20+ years he’s known Rudi. In this interview, Rudi explains the spark of FITO and how this story fits into his previous work Little Boy, Little Man, Teo tells the story of how he met 22-year-old Rudi in Florida, and both men share about how creating intentional spaces for theatre folks of color can decolonize the western traditions we’ve come to accept as the norm. FITO was performed by Rudi Goblen, Andrews “NonMs” Mujica, and Daniel “Felix” Garcia at The Shed as part of their Open Call summer programming on July 24 and 25. The Shed’s Open Call programming is free to attend. Special thanks to The Shed and The TASC Group for coordinating this interview. Production photos were taken by Marc J. Franklin, courtesy The Shed.

blacklove 🖤 and starlight 🌟

Want to read the review of this show? It’s right here: https://blackstarreviews.com/open-call-fito/