Remote video URL
The Latinx Theatre Commons, in partnership with the Lewis Arts Center at Princeton University hosted the 2025 Fornés Institute Symposium.
On Saturday 22 March 2025, the Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) hosted the 2025 María Irene Fornés Institute Symposium. This was a one-day convening of scholars, artists, students, advocates, and others invested in the life, work, and legacy of playwright, director, and educator, María Irene Fornés (1930-2018).
Taking place in the Lewis Arts Complex at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, the 2025 Symposium celebrated the pathbreaking publication of Fornés in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2025), a volume featuring the work of more than thirty artists, advocates, and scholars, which is slated for digital and print publication in July 2025.
The 2025 Symposium offered a series of plenary readings from Fornés in Context in tandem with a constellation of hosted breakout conversations engaging questions of context, legacy, and engagement around Fornés’s work.
Just as the 2018 Symposium launched the current wave of scholarly, artistic, and community engagement with the work of María Irene Fornés, the 2025 Symposium was designed to activate the next wave of critical, creative, and collaborative explorations of the Fornésian tradition. The symposium was championed by Dr. Anne García-Romero and Dr. Brian Eugenio Herrera.
Livestreaming Schedule
Opening Statements
Harriet and Irene: Infinite Muses by Elaine Romero
8 - 8:45 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 10 - 10:45 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 11 - 11:45 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4)
Directed by Juliana Frey Méndez, explores Fornés and Harriet Sohmers Zwerling in Paris 1954.
Truffle Pigs by Michael Breslin & Catherine María “Cat” Rodríguez
11 - 11:45 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 1 - 1:45 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 2 - 2:45 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) Directed by Rodríguez, delves into Fornés as feminist while three students study for a feminist theatre oral exam.
The House at 27 Rue de Fleurus by María Irene Fornés
1 - 1:30 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 3 - 3:30 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 4 - 4:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4)
Directed by Katie Pearl, considers the intersections of art, friendship, and joy in the lives of Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and Pablo Picasso in Paris 1932.
Roundtable discussion
1:30 - 2:40 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 3:30 - 4:40 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 4:30 - 5:40 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4)
A lively conversation among contributors to the Fornés Institute as they think toward the next wave of Fornés-instigated artistry, scholarship, advocacy, and community engagement. Panelists include Brian Eugenio Herrera, Anne García-Romero, Gwendolyn Alker, and Katie Pearl.
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