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Tlaloc Rivas

Tlaloc Rivas is Pittsburgh-based writer, educator, and theatremaker. He is one of the co-founders of the Latinx Theatre Commons and is the curator and producer of the Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour on Howlround.

Tlaloc Rivas writes, creates, and directs theatrical experiences, specializing in developing new, adventurous work, while also making the classics resonant for today's audiences. Tlaloc also works actively in equity and inclusion in all facets his work with over 25 years of experience in community engagement, social activism, and theater training: acting, directing, playwriting, and dramatic literature.



Plays include: JOHANNA: FACING FORWARD, LA FUERZA DE ANTÍGONA, THE REVOLUTION OF EVELYN SERRANO (based on the novel by Sonia Manzano), and BYZANTINE. Recent directing projects include: THE THREE MUSKETEERS (University of Evansville), PERIBAÑEZ (Quantum Theatre), JOHANNA: FACING FORWARD (Cleveland Public Theatre), and COLLECTIVE RAGE: A PLAY IN 5 BETTIES (Oberlin College). Tlaloc is a co-founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons, a member of the Dramatists Guild, and a member of Stage Directors & Choreographers.



Tlaloc graduated with honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and received an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Washington, School of Drama. Tlaloc was named the inaugural Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama in 2018. . www.TlalocRivas.com

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Rickerby Hinds
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Rickerby Hinds

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 29 June 2020
Untied States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Colman Domingo
colman domingo looking through a door
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Colman Domingo

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Friday 26 June 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Fernanda Coppel
Fernanda Coppel.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Fernanda Coppel

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 22 June 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Hilary Bettis
Hilary Bettis.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Hilary Bettis

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Friday 19 June 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Octavio Solis
Octavio Solis.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Octavio Solis

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 15 June 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Brian Quijada
Brian Quijada.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Brian Quijada

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Friday 12 June 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Marissa Chibas
Marissa Chibas.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Marissa Chibas

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 8 June 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Diana Burbano
Diana Burbano.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Diana Burbano

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Friday 5 June 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Herbert Siguenza
Herbert Siguenza.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Herbert Siguenza

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 1 June 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Martín Zimmerman
Martin Zimmerman.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Martín Zimmerman

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Friday 29 May 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Mando Alvarado
Mando Alvarado.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Mando Alvarado

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 25 May 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Haygen-Brice Walker
Haygen-Brice Walker
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Haygen-Brice Walker

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Friday 22 May 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Josefina López
Josefina López
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Josefina López

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 18 May 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Charise Castro-Smith
Charise Castro Smith.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Charise Castro-Smith

A Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Saturday 16 May 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with José Rivera
José Rivera.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with José Rivera

A 5-week Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 11 May 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Georgina Escobar
Georgina Escobar.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Georgina Escobar

A 5-week Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 4 May 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with C.Quintana
Headshot of Christina Quintana​​​​​​​.
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with C.Quintana

A 5-week Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 27 April 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Alvaro Saar Rios
portrait of alvaro saar rios
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Alvaro Saar Rios

A 5-week Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 20 April 2020
United States
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour
tlaloc rivas headshot with text latinx superfriends playwriting hour
Video

Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour

A 5-week Latinx-led playwriting series featuring writers/theatremakers from across the U.S.

Monday 13 April 2020
United States
Medicine for Melancholy
Essay

Medicine for Melancholy

Letter to the Latinx actor living in Chicago

9 August 2016

Following a series of casting controversies in Chicago, Tlaloc Rivas offers counsel and perspective to Latinx actors while calling out theatres that practice whitewashing.

Directing Diverse Worlds
Essay

Directing Diverse Worlds

An Interview with Tlaloc Rivas

22 August 2014

As a Chicano director and writer, I am inspired by my own culture—the influence of poetry and magical realism, the contradictions and collision of European and Indigenous cultures, the corridos and huapangos of home, the memories of sitting on the porch hearing my family’s stories, and my own ever-growing inquiry into the nature of storytelling—from the specific to the universal—all came to mind in the design of the play.

two actors onstage
What Happened When Critics Failed to Review My Latino Play?
Essay

What Happened When Critics Failed to Review My Latino Play?

30 April 2014

And although I’m proud of the production and of the nearly-all Latina/o creative team that gave Mariela en el Desierto an authentic voice, an issue arose as the last weekend of performances approached: No critics from the periodicals in the Atlanta area had attended or reviewed the show.

Photo from The Mahabharata.
What is Cultural Appropriation
Essay

What is Cultural Appropriation

Revisiting Peter Brook’s Mahabharata

6 February 2014

By allowing only a European/Western perspective to lead the artistic presentation of stories about class, race, and gender, are we continuing to allow those narratives to be appropriated, assimilated, or turned into the universal, etc. to the point of irrelevance? Perhaps in the attempt to distill a story to its essence there is a dilution that takes place at the hands of the dominant culture?

101 Plays by The New Americans, or on Latinidad
Essay

101 Plays by The New Americans, or on Latinidad

25 November 2013

Emerging from the  Latina/o Theatre Commons is a list of plays everyone should have access to. This list helps start jumpstart the exploration of (but not define) Latina/o theatre.

Logo for the Latinx Theatre Commons.
The Moment
Essay

The Moment

30 October 2013

This series on the Latinx Theatre Commons explores the origins, journey, challenges and the future of Latina/o theater in America. This edition: Tlaloc Rivas remembers the moment he realized he was Chicano.