Latinx Theatre

Los Angeles Theatre Center Encuentro: A Festival of National Latina/o Theatre will be held October 12-November 10 2014 and will feature ten companies from around the country, presenting their work in repertory over the course of the Festival. During the day, the companies will work together to share artistic practice and methodology which will culminate the final weekend of the Festival with public performance(s) of the co-created new work.

Chris Garza reviews Muy Very Authentico, from the Minneapolis based collective Theatre Forever. Garza shares his skepticism the production as it balances between absurdity/satire and offesnive misrepresentation.

Holly Derr writes about the Latino Theater Company and their role operating the Los Angeles Theatre Center, presenting multi-cultural work through partnerships with other organizaitons, and engaging local communities.

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.

What would happen if ALL of the US Latina/o theatres banded together to share and create together? Could we turn the system upside down?

José Carrasquillo recaps the findings and goals of the National Convening of Latina/o theater artists, and explains where we're headed... and how we can change the trajectory of representation onstage.

With such a long history of Latina/o theatre, Linda López McAlister looks at the current picture by highlighting some current companies and history.

Day three of the Latinx Theatre Commons asks for everyone to make a commitment to mentoring and being a mentee to each other in order to continue building community.

Day two of the Latinx Theatre Commons results in a declared Latina/o Theatre Day in Boston, a quandary of if there needs to be Latina/o theatre, and the strength to make their own table.

The Latina/o Theatre Commons National Convening has finally arrived in Boston. 78 Latina/o artist converged together for the biggest meeting since 1986.

In 2004 and 2005, two seminal Latino/a theatre incubators closed down. Since then, we’ve started to say our dreams aloud of find a new supports and a new hub.  

The multi-layered commitment is in hopes of finding out what is unique to the needs of U.S Latina/o theatre and how it reflects the changing landscape of American theatre.

Lo que cae mal, es la obsesión con la identidad. Presiento que debemos hablar honestamente sobre la paradoja de este tema. Por ejemplo, soy mujer gay Mexicana, si--pero significa esto entonces que solo eso define mi trabajo artístico? / What hits the wrong chord is the obsession with identity. I think we should engage in conversations regarding the paradox around this theme. For example, I am a gay Mexican woman, yes—but does that mean that it has to be what defines my writing?

What’s the next step when we’ve done this before and nothing has changed? The Bay Area Latino theatre artists reflect on historical patterns to find the answer of what’s next.

The 2013 convening is a time to think of defining who, what, and where Latina/o theatre is currenting in reflection of where it has come from and where it can go!

The following videos were recorded in March 2013 when the steering committee of the Latino Theater Commons National Convening gathered at HowlRound, Emerson College for the first time. Learn more about this week's upcoming first large-scale formal gathering of the Latina/o theatre community since 1986.

As the Latinx Theatre Commons approach their first national convening this month, Anne Garcia-Romero offers the following overview of their efforts to date.

"The field is not yielding the actors I need yet, and I'm wondering why this is so. So they're either not being trained properly or the pool is not diverse enough. For example, if I need a light skinned bilingual actor who can do a believable Northern Mexican accent—the casting pool is limited."

The second of three blogs detailing some of the participants of the Latinx Theatre Commons National Convening. Here are the results to inquiry about how to better support students’ access to Latina/o plays.