U.S. by State

This manifesto was delivered by José Luis Valenzuela as part of the opening session of the Latina/o Theatre Commons National Convening held at the Los Angeles Theatre Center’s Encuentro 2014 on Thursday, November 6, 2014.

Richard Washer is a Washington fixture, having worked in the Washington, D.C. area for more than thirty years as a playwright, director, dramaturg, and educator. He is humble, unassuming, and quietly essential to many in the DC area who are developing new plays.

Emily Morse and Srila Nayak share insight on Full Stage USA's dedication to exploring new models of play creation and production. 

At this historic moment in which it is still quite dangerous to be a black man in the United States, Native Son offers an important provocation. For all the world has changed since 1939, the production asks us to take a good hard look at what has not.

Professor Jorge Huerta gives a short overview about the precedents that led to the historic and revolutionizing event, focusing on the growth of Chicano/a theatre festivals since 1970. 

The Carnaval endeavors to increase the visibility of work by Latina/o playwrights and to encourage the production of that work in the nation’s theaters. The event will include eight readings of new work representing the four geographical regions of the United States; three pieces by master Latina/o directors devised with DePaul Theatre School students; and conversations between producers and the Latina/o theatermaking community.

Emma Wiseman writes about the YOLO! Productions revival of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.

Dr. Joan Lancourt reflects on collaborating with Boston-based theatre board chairs to discuss eye-opening ideas and shared frustrations.

What we really needed—and received—was a place to develop an unfinished work in a professional touring locale with Chicago audiences, and to prototype a student chorus that would be trained to perform in the work. Simultaneously Columbia College had the Double Edge ensemble embedded in its department for nearly a month. Acting students had daily access to training. Directors, playwrights, and actors could observe rehearsal and process regularly.

Bertie Ferdman interviews Anne Hamburger about Basetrack Live, a multimedia theatre production inspired by Basetrack: One-Eight, a web project created in 2010 by photojournalists embedded with US Marines fighting in southern Afghanistan.

Chris Garza covers the Mu Performing Arts production Eric Sharp’s play, Middle Brother which tells the story of an adoptee searching for his roots in Korea.

The Theatre School at DePaul University has been around for a long time. It's no wonder, given that they offer degree programs in nearly every discipline one could hope for, from playwriting to directing, scenic design to arts management, costume design to dramaturgy, one can acquire a top-notch education at DePaul, where theory and practice are afforded equal emphasis. This round, I interview John Culbert, Dean of The Theatre School at DePaul.

Martha Steketee writes about the logistics and process of the OOB Festival, including quotes from an interview with the team behind it.

The 2014 Latinx Theatre Commons Second National Convening at Los Angeles Theatre Center's Encuentro 2014 runs November 6-9, 2014 and is open to all theatermakers, artists, scholars, administrators, and advocates with an interest in Latina/o theater (or the New American Theater). If you plan to come to any Convening events, please RSVP here no later than November 1, 2014.

1.) Never wait for permission to practice your art. You cannot wait to get a job to be an artist. 2.) Study your art. Never stop studying. 3.) Find a spiritual practice that works for you.

Haley Honeman writes about The Kirkbride Cycle, a site-specific musical performed at Fergus Fall State Hospital, a deinstitutionalized asylum in Minnesota.

I offered to cut "Henry IV, Part One" down to ninety minutes, schedule two rehearsals and one performance, and find a part for anyone who wanted to participate. Eighteen actors jumped on board, and I was determined to not direct them in this play.

"All Our Tragic," adapted and directed by Sean Graney and produced by The Hypocrites at the Den Theatre in Chicago, features all thirty-two surviving Greek tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides compiled into a single twelve-hour epic. It includes seven intermissions of varying lengths and a vegan feast of Mediterranean food is served throughout. The result is rather like a contemporary version of a Dionysian festival.