Anima’s Next Chapter Needs Your Help!

We need to raise $8365 by October 18, 2026. Can we count on you?

Behind the Curtain of Anima Theater of the Feminine Underground

Dear Beloved Community,

Have you ever wondered what it takes to bring an Anima show to life? Not just what happens on stage, but everything that happens before.

Come with us behind the scenes for a moment.

Imagine a room full of women gathering week after week for three months. Playing with movement together and characters and words. Playing with different music, costume pieces and props. Offering feedback, taking notes. One woman discovering a part of her she’s never met until that day. Another woman crying because a scene has touched an old wound. Outbursts of relief laughter, followed by reverential sighs when something true finally lands.

This is where Anima begins. Long before audiences fill the seats. Long before the lights dim and the first line is spoken.

Since 2017 Anima Theater of the Feminine Underground has been a labor of love. A devotional practice. An act of service, especially for the women in our Santa Barbara community. Because we believe in the power of creativity to transform culture.

Every production is created by artists who generously give hundreds of hours of their time to write, choreograph, design, rehearse and perform – not because anyone is making any money, but because we believe our community deserves spaces where we can gather together to feel deeply and remember what it means to be human.

And because of you, Anima has grown into something extraordinary! Together, we’ve created consistently sold-out productions. We’ve journeyed together. We’ve been cracked open and inspired together. We’ve wept and been in awe together. We’ve experienced art doing what only art can, reaching the places inside of us that words can’t alone.

Anima is more than a theatrical experience. It has become a beloved community ritual.

We are one of the few female-identified ritual theater companies of our kind. We don’t simply entertain. We create containers for collective feeling. We metabolize cultural shadow through story. We restore the ancient practice of communal witnessing. We protect mystery and depth in a world that has become fragmented, overstimulated and spiritually malnourished. We make space for grief, joy, tenderness, humor, rage and beauty to exist side by side.

This work matters. And it takes a village.

Each production carries real costs of:

Total : $8364.38

This means if we sell out both show nights at $40/ ticket (with a $4/ ticket theater admin fee and additional estimated credit card fees, we basically break even. Yes, Center Stage Theater is expensive and we are looking into other spaces to perform. But there’s something about giving women a real stage, with lighting and a tech director to bring their stories to life. Most women struggle with their sense of worth. We want to give women the stage they deserve to share their inner worlds.

Behind the numbers are countless unseen hours. On average, cast members contribute (for free) 50 hours of creating, designing and rehearsing their pieces, not to mention the extra hours our director, stage manager and administrative team put in largely as volunteers. As its founder, I’ve never benefitted financially from Anima. If we make a few extra hundred dollars a show, it goes to the director and stage manager.

~ Point being, Anima is truly a labor of love. ~

If you’ve ever felt touched or seen by a story. If you’ve ever felt moved by the courage of a woman on our stage. If you’ve ever gone home and journaled after a performance. If you believe art can heal. If you believe that communities need places where we can feel together instead of apart…

Consider helping us bring our October show to life. No gift is too small. Every contribution helps artists continue creating. Every dollar says, “Yes, this kind of beauty belongs in our world.”

If ever Anima has touched your life, perhaps this is one way to become part of our mission to Awaken and Uplift the Feminine in All Beings - not only as an audience member, but as someone helping make the magic possible.

Art is the heart of community. Every time we support art, we are participating in choosing and creating the kind of world we want to live in.

Thank you for believing that art matters, that women’s voices matter, and that community matters, Thank you for helping Anima not only survive, but thrive as we go into our tenth year.

You are awesome! And we can’t wait to be with you again at Center Stage Theater in October.

With Love and Gratitude,

Lisa Citore

Founder and Rotating Director of Anima Theater of the Feminine Underground

Video about Anima: https://vimeo.com/1120872510?share=copy

Learn More: https://www.animaritualtheater.com/upcoming