Latino/a Theater Commons: Updating the US Narrative
Editor’s note: The Center for the Theater Commons hosted a small group of Latino Theater Artists in May of 2012 for a meeting to discuss the state of Latino/a theater artists in the US. We didn’t have a specific agenda but what follows came out of that meeting. Many thanks to Anne García-Romero for taking that conversation and turning it into this essay for HowlRound. And many thanks to Kristoffer Diaz, Lisa Portes, Tlaloc Rivas, Antonio Sonera, Enrique Urueta, Jose Luis Valenzuela, and Karen Zacarías for such an inspiring exchange of ideas.
In May 2012, Karen Zacarías, a playwright in residence at Arena Stage asked the Center for the Theater Commons to host an intimate conversation about the state of theater for US Latino/a artists. A group of us met in DC It was a small gathering of theater artists from across the country representing diverse voices, but in no way intended to be representative of the breadth of the Latino/a theater scene. In the twenty-four hour stretch of the gathering, we talked about community, history, and action. We dreamed up a plan.
Celebrating Contemporary Latino/a Theater
Theater can function as a reflection of our contemporary national narrative. The character journeys on a stage often help us better understand the complexities of our society. US culture in the twenty-first century continues to move from a mono-cultural to a multi-cultural experience. However, US theater currently does not always reflect this reality and therefore can perpetuate an outdated narrative. Contemporary Latino/a theater updates the US narrative through presenting diverse cultural worlds that allow theater audiences to more fully understand the US experience in the twenty-first century.
In 2012, Latino/a is a heterogeneous term that includes the diversity of all Spanish-speaking and indigenous cultures existing in the US from Mexico, the Caribbean, Spain, and Central and Latin America, in addition to the complexities which arise from the intersections of these cultures with non-Latino/a cultures. [1] This definition highlights the globalization of the US Latino/a community and mirrors the fact that life in the US is now an intercultural reality. According to the 2010 US census, 308.7 million people resided in the United States, of which 50.5 million (or 16 percent) were Latino/a. The Latino/a population hails from over twenty-two Latino/a cultural groups and was the fastest growing population from 2000 to 2010. [2] US theater production historically has only reflected a fraction of this diversity. Twenty-first century Latino/a theater artists are creating works that amply reflect this complexity. By embracing the current landscape of Latino/a theater, US theaters not only present a view of contemporary Latino/a culture, they also provide their audiences with ways in which to more fully understand our multicultural US experience.
Creating a Commons
A Latino/a Theater Commons acknowledges the gifts that Latino/a theater artists can share with each other by connecting Latino/a theater artists from across the US to create a platform and promote the latest developments in the field of Latino/a theater. From artists who began their professional careers in the 1970s to those who recently completed their MFA training, a commons facilitates a vibrant, intergenerational conversation that reflects contemporary US Latino/a theater. Building upon the foundation of the past and highlighting the realities of the present, a Latino/a Theater Commons creates new models of engagement and presentation of Latino/a theater that will not only illuminate the wide expanse of the field but will allow audiences to update the US narrative by experiencing multi-cultural worlds on stage that reflect an ever-diversifying national reality.
Highlighting Our History
From the success of Luis Valdez' 1978 production of Zoot Suit in Los Angeles to Maria Irene Fornes' Obie-Award winning New York City production of Fefu and Her Friends in 1977, US Latino/a theater continues to grow and thrive from coast to coast. Through the support of organizations such as the Ford Foundation and the Lila Wallace–Reader’s Digest Fund, several US regional theaters have provided platforms for the continued development of Latino/a theater artists. The INTAR Playwrights Workshop in New York City, South Coast Repertory's Hispanic Playwrights Project in Costa Mesa, California and The Mark Taper Forum's Latino Theatre Initiative in Los Angeles became centers of training, collaboration and conversation from 1978 to 2005. These programs helped launch the careers of a generation of Latino/a theater artists including Pulitzer prize winners Nilo Cruz and Quiara Alegría Hudes, Academy-Award nominee José Rivera, Obie award winners Caridad Svich and Kristoffer Diaz and MacArthur Genius grant winner Luis Alfaro.
INTAR, founded in 1972 by Max Ferrá, is one of the longest-running companies producing Latino/a theater in the United States. [3] Maria Irene Fornes created the INTAR Hispanic Playwrights-in-Residence Laboratory (1978-1991) and trained some of the most widely produced Latino/a playwrights in the U.S. including Cruz, Svich, Alfaro, Cherrie Moraga, Migdalia Cruz and Octavio Solis. Svich states:
Fornes, leading by example, did not require that the playwrights in the Lab address any ethnically specific subject matter or theme. Through daily visualization exercises, the writers were asked to discover the work within them, to create the forms that suited their visions, and under Fornes’ rigorous, watchful eye, to speak the truth about their worlds. [4]
Under the current leadership of Lou Moreno, INTAR continues to produce new work by Latino/a playwrights.
Hispanic Playwrights Project (HPP), 1985-2004, created by José Cruz Gonzalez and later directed by Juliette Carrillo, featured a yearly summer festival of new works at South Coast Repertory bringing together new plays written by Latino/a playwrights. For many playwrights, HPP provided a first professional theater development opportunity. The annual gathering launched the careers of many Latino/a theater artists including Octavio Solis, Rogelio Martinez, Karen Zacarías, Kristoffer Diaz, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Anne García-Romero.
The Latino Theatre Initiative (LTI), 1992-2005, at the Mark Taper Forum, was designed to diversify the Taper’s audience base by offering theatrical programming relevant to the Latino/a community while also providing access to emerging Latino/a artists who reflected the diversity of the city of Los Angeles. [5] Founded by José Luis Valenzuela and later codirected by Luis Alfaro and Diane Rodriguez, LTI developed new works through in-house readings, festivals and yearly writers' retreats.
Building upon Our Present
Theater Companies
At present, over forty US theater companies are dedicated to the production of plays by Latino/as. (see Appendix A). The following brief list includes several of the most prominent Latino/a theater companies in the US
California
El Teatro Campesino
Latino Theater Company at LATC
Teatro Vision
Oregon
Miracle Theatre Group
Illinois
Teatro Luna
Teatro Vista
New Play Development
Since the demise of HPP and LTI, Latino/a playwrights continue to develop their work at US theaters, festivals, and conferences. No current program exists that brings together a company of Latino/a theater artists once a year to explore the creation and development of new plays. However, the following are among the organizations that have been developing the work of Latino/a playwrights.
Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference:
Nilo Cruz
Anne García-Romero
Quiara Alegría Hudes
Karen Zacarías
Lark Play Development Center:
Migdalia Cruz
Rogelio Martinez
José Rivera
Adriana Sevahn-Nichols
Caridad Svich
Denver Center New Play Summit:
Cusi Cram
Octavio Solis
Caridad Svich
Sundance Theatre Lab:
Quiara Alegría Hudes
Tanya Saracho
An Action Plan: Generating New Models
In our dream for a Latino/a Theater Commons, we build upon the foundation of the past and the momentum of the present to create four initiatives that will continue to advance the field of US Latino/a theater.
1. The Los Angeles Theatre Center, under the direction of José Luis Valenzuela, will produce a festival of ten Latino/a plays over the course of the 2014-15 season. This festival seeks to present ten diverse plays that will mirror the complexity of the US Latino/a community.
2. Latino/a Theater Commons will pilot a biannual conference of new Latino/a work hosted by the Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago. The Festival will honor and be inspired by previous programs such as the Hispanic Playwrights Project, but be reconceived for the twenty-first century to allow for live and online participation and new methods of collaboration through workshops and focus groups on specific theatrical disciplines.
3. Latino/a Theater Commons will launch an online platform, Cafe Onda (Wave Cafe). This platform will be created as an online community and conversation about the current state of the Latino/a theater in the twenty-first century. Cafe Onda will contain articles, blogs and live streaming of theater events and will be linked to HowlRound, an online journal of the Theater Commons.
4. Latino/a Theater Commons will broaden the conversation by working with an expanded national cohort of Latino/a theater artists to convene in 2013 and solidify our efforts in implementing these plans that will generate a new national narrative for US theater. Members of the Steering Committee who will be involved in planning this meeting include as of this publication:
- Christopher Acebo (Designer; Associate Artistic Director, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland, OR)
- Luis Alfaro (Playwright, Assistant Professor, USC, Los Angeles, CA)
- Juliette Carrillo (Stage Director; Former Artistic Associate, South Coast Repertory; Ensemble Member, Cornerstone Theater Company, Los Angeles, CA)
- Sandra Delgado (Actor; Company Member, Collaboraction Theater Company; Company Member, Teatro Vista, Chicago, IL)
- Kristoffer Diaz (Playwright, New York, NY)
- Michael John Garcés (Playwright; Artistic Director, Cornerstone Theater Company,Los Angeles, CA)
- Ricky J. Martinez (Artistic Director, The New Theatre, Coral Gables, FL)
- Anne García-Romero (Playwright; Assistant Professor of Theater, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN)
- Lisa Portes (Stage Director; Head of MFA in Directing, DePaul University, Chicago, IL)
- Tlaloc Rivas (Stage Director; Assistant Professor of Theater, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA)
- Anthony Rodriguez (Artistic Director, Aurora Theater Company, Atlanta GA)
- Diane Rodriguez (Playwright; Associate Artistic Director, Center Theater Group, Los Angeles, CA)
- Olga Sanchez (Artistic Director, Miracle Mainstage, Miracle Theater Group, Portland, OR)
- Tanya Saracho (Playwright, Chicago, IL/Los Angeles, CA)
- Octavio Solis (Playwright, San Francisco, CA)
- Antonio Sonera (Stage Director; Producing Artistic Director, Badass Theatre Company, Portland, OR)
- Enrique Urueta (Playwright, Minneapolis, MN)
- Kinan Valdez (Stage Director; Producing Artistic Director, El Teatro Campesino, San Juan Bautista, CA)
- Clyde Valentin (Executive Director, Hip-Hop Theater Festival, New York, NY)
- José Luis Valenzuela (Stage Director; Artistic Director, Los Angeles Theater Center, Professor of Theater, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA)
- Patricia Ybarra (Theatre Studies Scholar; Assistant Professor of Theatre, Brown University, Providence, RI)
- Karen Zacarías (Playwright; Resident Playwright–Arena Stage, Washington, DC)
These projects will provide a multifaceted view of contemporary Latino/a theater. Through exploring, developing and advocating for new Latino/a plays, all four initiatives generate necessary conversations about the diverse make-up of US society. We respectfully share this plan in the hopes that a Latino/a Theater Commons will advance the state of Latino/a theater while also allowing audiences to update the US narrative at the start of the twenty-first century.
Onward!
Latino/a Theater Commons
Appendix A
This list was compiled by the American Theater in Higher Education Latino Focus Group.
ARIZONA
BORDERLANDS THEATER
TEATRO BRAVO
CALIFORNIA
AMERICAN LATINO THEATRE
BREATH OF FIRE LATINA THEATER ENSEMBLE
CASA 0101
CULTURE CLASH
EAST LA CLASSIC THEATRE
EAST LA REP
LATINO THEATRE COMPANY
EL TEATRO CAMPESINO
TEATRO VISIÓN
COLORADO
SU TEATRO
FLORIDA
TEATRO AVANTE
TEATRO 8
TEATRO PROMETEO
TEATRO TRAIL
ILLINOIS
TEATRO LUNA
TEATRO VISTA
TEATRO AGUIJON
MINNESOTA
TEATRO DEL PUEBLO
NEW MEXICO
CAMINO REAL PRODUCTIONS
TEATRO NUEVO MÉXICO
TEATRO PARAGUAS
NEW YORK
AY OMBE THEATRE
DANISARTE
INTAR
LATINO FLAVORED, INC.
NUYORICAN POETS CAFÉ
PUERTO RICAN TRAVELING THEATRE
REPERTORIO ESPAÑOL
TEATRO CIRCULO
TEATRO IATI
TEATRO LATEA
TEATRO PREGONES
TEATRO SEA
TEATROSTAGEFEST
THALIA THEATRE
UNIVERSES
OREGON
Miracle Theatre Group
TEXAS
ARTES DE LA ROSA
AUSTIN LATINO THEATRE ALLIANCE
CARA MIA THEATRE CO.
LATINO COMEDY PROJECT
PROYECTO TEATRO
THE ROYAL MEXICAN PLAYERS
TEATRO DALLAS
TEATRO VIVO
WASHINGTON, DC
TEATRO HISPANO GALA
Notes
[1] García-Romero, Anne. "Latin@: Shifting Toward A Twenty- First Century Definition" 2012: Backpages, Contemporary Theatre Review, 22:2, 285-298.
[2] Ennis, Sharon R., Ríos-Vargas, Merarys and Albert, Nora G. The Hispanic Population 2010. Washington DC: United States Census Bureau, 2011.
[3] Rodríguez, Chantal. Bringing Teatro to the Taper: Center Theatre Group’s Latino Theatre Initiative, 1992–2005. Los Angeles: UCLA Chicano Theatre Archives. 2011
[4] For more on Fornes' workshop, please see Svich, Caridad and Delgado, Maria, eds. Conducting a life: reflections on the theatre of Maria Irene Fornes . Lyme, NH : Smith and Kraus, 1999. xxi. and Svich, Caridad ed. “The Legacy of Maria Irene Fornes: A Collection of Impressions and Exercises,” PAJ Journal, Vol. 31, No. 3, September 2009.
[5] Please refer to Dr. Chantal Rodríguez's essay, Bringing Teatro to the Taper: Center Theatre Group’s Latino Theatre Initiative, 1992–2005 for an in-depth exploration of LTI.