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Latinx Theatre

Content in this section is created by or highlights the work of Latinx theatremakers from around the world. Start with the Journal series Taking the Temperature about issues facing Latinx theatre artists in the United States, or with the video series Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour. Looking for more? Check out the Latinx Theatre Commons, a national movement to transform the narrative of the American theatre and a flagship program of HowlRound.

The Latest

Scattered, but Not Apart: A Two-Sided Story
Essay
Scattered, but Not Apart: A Two-Sided Story
by Carl(os) Roa, Rula(s) A. Muñoz
26 October 2023
Holding a Human: Caretaking, Play, and Design as a Social Act
Essay
Holding a Human: Caretaking, Play, and Design as a Social Act
by Dolissa Medina
12 October 2023
Lambe-Lambe and the Radical Generosity of Miniature Puppet Theatre
Essay
Lambe-Lambe and the Radical Generosity of Miniature Puppet Theatre
by Kristin Idaszak
10 October 2023
A shirtless man holds up a book.
Learning from Sources: Performance and Climate Crisis in Four Brazilian Works
Essay

Learning from Sources: Performance and Climate Crisis in Four Brazilian Works

20 April 2022

In Martin Domecq’s contribution to the Climate Emergency series, he puts four Brazillian performance art pieces in conversation to draw upon the poetic, political, and civic lessons they offer. These performances—which range from installations to solo and group performances—model possible paradigms that work against ecological crisis.

A welcome mat lying on the ground amongst bits of paper.
Eco-Performance: Brazil
Essay

Eco-Performance: Brazil

19 April 2022

Elizabeth Doud introduces the Climate Emergency series, which looks to Brazilian artivism for reparative paths forward in the face of climate change.

2022 Comedy Carnaval Banner
2022 Latinx Theatre Commons Comedy Carnaval Announcement
Essay

2022 Latinx Theatre Commons Comedy Carnaval Announcement

24 March 2022

The Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) announces the 2022 LTC Comedy Carnaval, June 9-11, 2022 in Denver, Colorado. The convening is hosted by Su Teatro Cultural & Performing Arts Center. …because the past two years have been so rough that we gotta ducking laugh 🦆

event poster for re encuentro 2021.
Re:Encuentro 2021
Video

Re:Encuentro 2021

A National Latina/o/x Virtual Theatre Festival Celebrating Contemporary Latina/o/x Theatre In the US

Monday 15 November to Saturday 20 November 2021
United States

The Los Angeles Theatre Center presented Re:Encuentro 2021 livestreaming on the commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Monday 15 November to Saturday 20 November 2021.

A person wearing blue and red holding out a stick.
The Refusal to be Disappeared: Lukas Avendaño’s Xibalbay
Essay

The Refusal to be Disappeared: Lukas Avendaño’s Xibalbay

28 October 2021

María Regina Firmino-Castillo discusses the inspiration behind and implications of Lukas Avendaño’s Xibalbay, a multidisciplinary performance project that relates enduring stories of the Mayan underworld to contemporary forced disappearances of people in Mexico.

A woman in a white dress with short hair dancing with an ensemble of other women and men behind her.
Open Channels: The Journey Begins/Canales Abiertos: La jornada comienza
Essay

Open Channels: The Journey Begins/Canales Abiertos: La jornada comienza

29 July 2021

Fátima De La Caridad Patterson Patterson, Mathew Schwarzman, and Carolina Caballero share their experience of creating Open Channels, an event where artists from thirteen countries gathered digitally to talk about Caribbean popular theatre.

Fátima De La Caridad Patterson Patterson, Mathew Schwarzman, y Carolina Caballero comparten sus experiencias creando Open Channels (Canales Abiertos), un evento donde artistas de trece países compartieron digitalmente para hablar del Teatro Popular Caribeño.

event poster for Open Channels—a Caribbean Theatre Workshop from Santiago de Cuba & New Orleans Canales Abiertos—un Taller de Teatro Popular del Caribe desde Santiago de Cuba y Nueva Orleans.
Open Channels / Canales Abiertos 2021
Video

Open Channels / Canales Abiertos 2021

A Caribbean Theatre Workshop from Santiago de Cuba & New Orleans / Canales Abiertos—un Taller de Teatro Popular del Caribe desde Santiago de Cuba y Nueva Orleans

Thursday 8 July 2021
Cuba

The Stone Center for Latin American Studies and The Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute and The New Orleans Center for the Gulf South of Tulane University (New Orleans, LA), and Estudio Teatral Macubá presented Open Channels livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 8 July 2021 at 10 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 9 a.m. CDT (New Orleans, UTC -5) / 7 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7).

Jacqueline Flores
Introducing Jacqueline Flores, Our New Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!
Essay

Introducing Jacqueline Flores, Our New Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!

9 June 2021

Join us in welcoming Jacqueline, our new Latinx Theatre Commons Producer!

four actors posing for a photo
Beneath the Shadow of the Freeway
Essay

Beneath the Shadow of the Freeway

Virginia Grise’s Stage Adaptation of Helena Maria Viramontes’s Their Dogs Came with Them

17 March 2021

Manuel Muñoz reflects on Virginia Grise’s adaptation of Their Dogs Came with Them, which took place in fall 2019 under the colossal concrete freeway ramps of the I-10 freeway that dissect South Tucson from the edge of the Sonoran Desert.

ep. 7 Beto O'Byrne Radical Evolution
Beto O'Byrne and Radical Evolution
Podcast

Beto O'Byrne and Radical Evolution

Building Our Own Tables Episode #7

10 February 2021

For the last episode of this season's Building Our Own Tables, podcast host Yura Sapi talks with Beto O'Byrne of Radical Evolution, a multiethnic producing collective.

Nydia Simone and Blactina
Podcast

Nydia Simone and Blactina

Building Our Own Table Episode #4

20 January 2021

In this episode of Building Our Own Tables Podcast, host Viviana Vargas discusses amplifying Afrolatinx and Caribbean stories with an emphasis on women through media and entertainment with Blactina founder Nydia Simone.

youtube screenshot
a farm for my mother, a farm for meme
Essay

a farm for my mother, a farm for meme

21 December 2020

Priscilla Solis Ybarra reflects on her experience watching Virginia Grise’s a farm for meme at home, during the pandemic, with her eighty-two-year-old mother whose life shares parallels with the story in the play.

un escaparate colorido
Moving an LGBTIQ+ Arts and Healing Space in Bogotá Online During the Pandemic/Trasladando a la virtualidad un espacio de artes y sanación LGBTIQ+ en Bogotá durante la pandemia
Essay

Moving an LGBTIQ+ Arts and Healing Space in Bogotá Online During the Pandemic/Trasladando a la virtualidad un espacio de artes y sanación LGBTIQ+ en Bogotá durante la pandemia

4 December 2020

Viviana Vargas shares what it’s been like transitioning their Bogotá-based arts, culture, and healing storefront, Balistikal, into an online space during the pandemic./Viviana Vargas comparte cómo ha sido la transición de su espacio físico en Bogotá, de arte, cultura y sanación, llamado Balistikal, a un espacio en línea durante la pandemia.

Kar Eleggua Luna Olokun Laverde
Hazard / En Riesgo
Essay

Hazard / En Riesgo

The Colombian Resistance Way / El Camino del Colombianx en Resistencia

3 December 2020

Kar Eleggua Luna Olokun Laverde talks about the relationship between state, culture, and art in Colombia; the effects of COVID-19 on resistance communities; cultural organizations that empower marginalized communities through art; and more. / Kar Eleggua Luna Olokun Laverde Sanjuan habla sobre la relación entre estado, cultura y arte en Colombia; los efectos del COVID-19 sobre las comunidades en resistencia; organizaciones culturales que empoderan comunidades marginadas a través del arte; y más.

black and white photo of two people in different masks facing each other through glass
Creativity in Strange Times / Creatividad en tiempos extraños
Essay

Creativity in Strange Times / Creatividad en tiempos extraños

Making Performance with a "Lockdown Aesthetic" / Haciendo las obras con un "Lockdown Estética"

2 December 2020

Cris Tengono talks about how, thanks to the pandemic, a virtual artistic world has begun to develop in Colombia—one of infinite possibilities and without borders, where nationalities do not matter—and shares some of the work that has come out of it.

zoom video chat of several people
Seven Performers Living in Bogotá / Siete artistas viviendo en Bogotá
Essay

Seven Performers Living in Bogotá / Siete artistas viviendo en Bogotá

Actions and Reflections to Cope with the “New Normal” / Acciones y Reflexiones para Afrontar la "Nueva Normalidad"

1 December 2020

Michelle Yemayá notes that while Colombian theatre artists have found ways to face the unexpected changes this year, artists are still struggling to stay afloat. She talks about how she has adapted her practice under the circumstances and shares the stories of three other artists living and working as artists in Colombia right now. / Michelle Yemayá ha notado que, si bien los artistas del teatro colombiano han encontrado formas de enfrentar los cambios inesperados de este año, la lucha por mantenerse a flote es constante. Habla sobre cómo ha adaptado su práctica a las circunstancias y comparte las historias de otras tres personas que en este momento viven y trabajan como artistas en Colombia.

a small potted plant
The Colombia Outside My Apartment / La Colombia afuera de mi apartamento
Essay

The Colombia Outside My Apartment / La Colombia afuera de mi apartamento

What I Learned From the Quarantine / Lo que aprendí de la cuarentena

30 November 2020

In the intro article to the Colombia series, Carl(os) Roa, a Latinx artist from Philadelphia who made art in Bogotá last year, poses the question “What are the ways in which Colombia’s arts communities are just as fragmented as those in the United States” and shares how uplifting it has been to watch artists in the Bogotanx theatre community adapt to new realities brought on by the pandemic.

three clowns posing with a handmade banner
Action and Reaction / Acción Y Reacción
Essay

Action and Reaction / Acción Y Reacción

The Experience of a Chilensis Clown Circus Theatre Company / Experiencia de una compañía chilensis de circo teatro payasx

11 November 2020

Members of Chile’s Compañía Siató—Valentina Paz Berger Correa, Jean Carlo Montecinos Carreño, Hernán Enrique Huerta Vargas, and Felipe Jesús Pereira Godoy—discuss clowning across Latin America; their show Sacrilegio, which denounces and ridicules religion, the church, and the police; the political duty of the artist; and more.

event description text with photo of street in chile
Conversations on Playwriting and Social Unrest in Chile
Video

Conversations on Playwriting and Social Unrest in Chile

A discussion of Chile’s exciting feminist vanguard and the performance of gender in Chilean theatre

Friday 25 September 2020
United States

The Theatre Arts and Latin American and Latinx Studies Programs at the University of Pennsylvania and Interdram, the Theatrical Platform for New Playwriting, presented the first of two Conversations on Playwriting and Social Unrest in Chile livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 25 September 2020 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 1 p.m. CLST (Santiago, UTC -3).

artists onstage under green light
A Performance of Re-Re-Generation
Video

A Performance of Re-Re-Generation

Re-imagining performances originally created for Re-Fest 2020, CultureHub’s annual festival that brings together artists, technologists, and activists

Saturday 19 September 2020
Los Angeles, California

CultureHub LA presented a performance Re-Re-Generation livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 19 September 2020 at 7 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7) / 9 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 10 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

two actors onstage
Staging Bilingual Classical Theatre
Essay

Staging Bilingual Classical Theatre

15 September 2020

Carla Della Gatta offers strategies and considerations for theatremakers who are looking to create bilingual or semi-bilingual renditions of the canonized classics.

photo of diane rodriguez with event text
Celebrating the Legacy Lessons of Theatre Artist Diane Rodriguez
Video

Celebrating the Legacy Lessons of Theatre Artist Diane Rodriguez

The Opening Session for LTA/LA's Convening: Awake and Activate

Friday 17 July 2020
Los Angeles, California

The Latinx Theatre Alliance LA presented Celebrating the Legacy Lessons of Theatre Artist Diane Rodriguez, the Opening Session for LTA/LA's Convening: Awake and Activate livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 17 July 2020 at 7 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 9 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 10 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4).

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

Tlaloc Rivas presented the Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Rickerby Hinds livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 29 June 2020 at 3 p.m. EDT (New York) / 2 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 1 p.m. MDT (Denver) / 12 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 20:00 BST (London, UTC+1) / 21:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC+2).

colman domingo looking through a door
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Colman Domingo
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

Tlaloc Rivas presented the Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Colman Domingo livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 26 June 2020 at 3 p.m. EDT (New York) / 2 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 1 p.m. MDT (Denver) / 12 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 20:00 BST (London, UTC+1) / 21:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC+2).

Fernanda Coppel.
Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with 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

Tlaloc Rivas presented the Latinx Superfriends Playwriting Hour with Fernanda Coppel livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 22 June 2020 at 3 p.m. EDT (New York) / 2 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 1 p.m. MDT (Denver) / 12 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 20:00 BST (London, UTC+1) / 21:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC+2).