In 2012, one of the earliest initiatives conceived by the newly founded Latina/o Theatre Commons (LTC) was simple: give Latino playwrights a platform to showcase their work. Three years later, the LTC partnered with Chicago’s DePaul University to produce Carnaval 2015, a gathering of artists, scholars, producers, and theater-makers promoting Latina/o playwrights. The aim was to secure production for each of the featured artists before 2019, so they hit the pavement, spread the word, and attached every Carnaval attendee’s name tag with a USB containing 60 plays by all of the playwrights.
It was recently announced that 18 different theater companies all over the country would produce all 12 creatives presented at Carnaval 2015 over the next three years. The theaters range from the Cara Mía Theatre Co. in Dallas, Texas, to the Latino Theater Company in Los Angeles, and the playwrights selected will receive at least one production, with many receiving co-productions and commissions of new work.
“What’s cool about this particular set of playwrights and Latinos writing now,” said Abigail Vega, producer of the LTC, “is they’re writing very good human stories and I think there’s a misconception that Latino plays are [merely] border plays and they’re plays about Mexico, which happens—there are certainly lots of plays about that—but [these plays] are for everybody.
“We’re not living in a homogenous society anymore. People of color will be the majority by 2040 and some of these playwrights are going to be at the top of their careers in 2040 if we give them opportunities now. We just have to make sure these stories get heard and become part of the American narrative.”
Lisa Portes, one of the original founders of LTC and artistic director at Chicago Playworks, said she doesn’t understand why theater, which should be progressive, is behind the curve.
“Theater is the most reflective art form,” she told Backstage. “The function of theater is to expand our understanding of who we are. It represents the human as the human is. I don’t have to be white to love an Irish play.”
One of the playwrights, Marisela Treviño Orta from San Francisco, has two theaters interested: Su Teatro from Denver, Colo., and Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center & San Antonio Latino Theatre Alliance from Dallas, Texas; her work is inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tales.
“They’re not for kids,” said Orta. “They’re very much for adults. The one I had at Carnaval is called ‘Wolf at the Door’ and for me, that story is about agency and a woman gaining agency over her life.”
Artistic director David Lozano from the Cara Mía Theatre Co. in Dallas, Texas, attended Carnaval and walked away with a partnership with playwright Migdalia Cruz from New York.
“There are published Latino plays out there, but they can sometimes feel dated and are not relevant to what our contemporary Latino theater movement is,” he said. “This has the potential of transforming our field and giving...theater companies more cutting edge work to use.”
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