30/30- a US Latina/o theatre/NoPassport reading scheme
Do you believe in US Latin@ theatre? Then join in for 30/30
NoPassport theatre alliance and press
in collaboration with Dominic D'Andrea, Producing Artistic Director, The One-Minute Play Festival (#1MPF)
invites you to collaborate on a national/international reading scheme we are calling 30/30 - a celebration of US Latino theatre!
THEATRES WHO ARE ALREADY PART OF THE SCHEME:
February 9th: DNAWORKS in Santa Fe, New Mexico reads CASCARONES at Teatro Paraguas Directed by Daniel Banks.
March 1st: Cara Mia Theatre in Dallas, TX reads STRANGER by Martin Zimmerman; Directed by Frida Espinosa-Müller
March 2nd: Cara Mia Theatre in Dallas, TX reads DARK MATTERS by Oliver Mayer; Directed by directed by Matthew Tomlanovich (Collaboration with Voicegeek Dallas directed by Matthew Tomlanovich)
March 11th: Cara Mia Theatre in Dallas, TX reads ARCHIPELAGO by Caridad Svich. Directed by Stephanie Cleghorn-Jasso and Brad Hennigan.
March 16th: Teatro Vista in Chicago, IL reads AT WATER’S EDGE by Elaine Avila; Directed by Kay Martinovich at Vagabond School of the Arts at 7:00pm
March 19th: Cara Mia Theatre in Dallas, TX reads OFELIA’S LOVERS by Mariana Carreno King; Directed by Priscilla Rice; TINY PEOPLE OR IT GETS BETTER by christopher oscar pena; Directed by Ryan Matthieu Smith
March 19th: Flux Theatre Ensemble in NYC reads UNDONE by Andrea Thome; Directed by Heather Cohn at The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
March 21st: Teatro Vista in Chicago, IL reads COWL GIRL by Anna Capunay; Directed by Carlos Garcia at Vagabond School if the Arts at 7:00pm
March 21st: eSe Teatro in Seattle, WA reads ARCHIPELAGO by Caridad Svich directed by Rose Cano at A Contemporary Theatre at 7:30 PM.
March 22nd: Plays and Players, Power Street Theatre, Directors Gathering and Philadelphia New Play Initiative and Tamanya Garza in Philadelphia read 30 plays in one day. Initiated by Daniel Student of Plays and Players. Panel at 5 PM, reading at 7 PM. Opening remarks by Quiara Hudes delivered by Gabriela Sanchez.
March 23rd: Teatro Vista in Chicago, IL reads DARK MATTERS by Oliver Mayer; Directed by Lavina Jadhwani at Black Rock at 7:00pm
March 24th : Pregones in NYC reads EL NOGLAR by Tanya Saracho at The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
March 24th: UCLA @ LATC reads AMERICAN TRIAGE by Marisela Orta at LATC at 7 PM. Directed by J. Ed Araiza.
March 27th: Cara Mia Theatre in Dallas, TX reads PROFIT by Tatiana Suarez-Pico; Directed by Meg Hargis
March 28th: Teatro Vista in Collaboration with Collaboraction in Chicago, IL reads ASHES OF LIGHT by Marco Antonio Rodriguez; Directed by Jo Cattell at Vagabond School of the Arts at 7:30pm
March 28th: Dramatic Question Theatre reads PROVENANCE by Anne Garcia-Romero. At ART/NY, 520 8th Avenue at 8 PM.
March 30th: Cara Mia Theatre in Dallas, TX reads TIENE DUENDE by Cecilia Copeland; Directed by Vanessa Mercado Taylor and Karen Robinson
March 31st: Cara Mia in Dallas, TX reads TIENE DUENDE by Cecila Copeland; Directed by Vanessa Mercado Taylor and Karen Robinson
March 31st: Pregones in NYC reads BETWEEN YOU, ME, AND THE LAMP SHADE By Raul Castillo at The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
April 4th: Teatro Vista in Chicago, IL reads LEARN TO BE LATINA by Enrique Urueta; Directed by Juan F. Villa at Vagabond School of the Arts at 7:30pm
April 5th: Halcyon Theatre in Chicago, IL read ESTRELLA CRUZ by Charise Castro Smith; Directed by Noe Jara; AMERICAN TRIAGE by Marisela Trevino Orta ; Directed by Robert Salazar; at Halcyon Theatre at Christ Lutheran Church (times TBA)
April 5th: Cornish College of the Arts Theatre Dept in Seattle, WA reads EL NOGALAR by Tanya Saracho. Directed by Nikki Mejia and Xochitl Portillo Moody
April 6th: Sankofa Theatre in collaboration with Teatro Vista reads ARCHIPELAGO by Caridad Svich starring Eliza Shin and Juan Villa; Directed by Kristen Johnson at Angel Island at 7pm
(postponed) April 7th: Teatro Vista in Chicago, IL reads TINY PEOPLE OR, IT GETS BETTER by christopher oscar peña, Directed by Susan Bowen. at 7:30pm (location TBA)
April 7th: Pregones in NYC reads LA BELLA FAMILIA by Edwin Sanchez at The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
April 15th: Banned Plays Public Reading Series reads EL NOGALAR by Tanya Saracho at Phoenix Hostel and Cultural Center, Arizona directed by Nuvia Enriquez.
April 16: Washington Ensemble Theatre in Seattle, WA reads KING WITHOUT A CASTLE by Candido Tirado
April 21st: Pregones reads TWO ROBERTS by Migdalia Cruz at The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater at 7 PM
April 24th: Teatro Luna in Chicago reads BETWEEN YOU, ME AND THELAMPSHADE by Raul Castillo at Instituo Cervantes, 31 West Ohio at 7:30 PM. Directed by Maggie Bofill (LAByrinth).
April 28th: UrbanTheater Company reads MISS QUINCE by Cynthia DeCure at UrbanTheater Company in Chicago, 2628 West Division Street at 7:00 PM. Directed by Marilyn Camacho.
April 30: Teatro Vista reads STRANGER by Martin Zimmerman, dir. by Lauri Dahl (Teatro Vista) at Black Rock, 3614 N. Damen, 60618 at 7:30 PM
May 1: Teatro Vista reads EARTHQUAKE WEATHER by Michael John Garcés, dir. by Joanie Schultz at Vagabond School of the Arts, 4001 N Ravenswood, #504, 60613 @8pm
May 2nd: Dramatic Question Theatre in NYC reads MISS QUINCE by Cynthia DeCure at Art/NY, 520 8th Ave at 8 PM.
May 4th: Dramatic Question Theatre in NYC reads WETBACK by Elaine Romero at ART/NY, 520 8th Avenue at 8 PM.
May 10th: University of Washington/Hansberry Project reads LEARN TO BE LATINA by Enrique Urueta at Penthouse Theatre at UW-Seattle directed by Val Curtis Newton at 7:30 PM
30/30 Series in Philadelphia: To Catch the Lightning by Carmen Rivera, June 9.
El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho, June 16.
Dark Matters by Oliver Mayer, June 17.
[Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey Place] June 9-17, 2014; playsandplayers.org.
June 27th: LATEA reads FAKE by Carmen Pelaez at LATEA in NYC. dir. Natalia Miranda Guzman at 7:30 PM
June 28th: Hartbeat Ensemble reads PICK UP POTS! By Ed Cardona Jr. at Hartbeat Ensemble Theatre in Hartford, CT dir. TBA, time TBA
More venues/plays/dates TBA... stay tuned.
WHO WE ARE:
30/30 is a gathering of 30+ NoPassport playwrights and theatre-makers who also happen to be US Latina/o artists. The playwrights (and plays) on board, as of this writing, for 30/30 are (cast breakdown and selected brief synopses below). Scripts available upon request by emailing 30playsin30days@gmail.com
Mando Alvarado - BASILICA
Full-length. 3M, 3W. In South Texas, two things loom large, The Catholic Church and Texas Pride... and Joe Garza - a strong, hard working man - embodies one more than the other. But when he learns that Gilbert Gonzalez has returned as the new pastor at the Basilica, Joe's confronted with the choices he made in life and questions the past the only way he knows how -- anger, pride and a biting tongue.
Elaine Avila - AT WATER'S EDGE
Anna Capunay - COWL GIRL
Mariana Carre~no King - OFELIA'S LOVERS
Full-length, 4M/2F. Ofelia’s Lovers is an exploration of the universe of Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa and his heteronyms, through the eyes of Ofelia Queiroz, Pessoa’s only love interest. In the play, after Pessoa’s death, Ofelia lures three of his most prolific heteronyms into her world, pushing the boundaries of who or what is real.
Raul Castillo -BETWEEN YOU, ME AND THE LAMPSHADE
Full-length. 3W, 3M. The lives of a single mother and her teenage son are turned upside down when a desperate and wounded undocumented immigrant breaks into their trailer home in rural South Texas.
Charise Castro Smith- ESTRELLA CRUZ THE JUNKYARD QUEEN
Full-length, 5 actors. A play about a mother and daughter. Also featuring: helpful tips on what to do if you get knocked up by the lord of the underworld and it turns out he’s a little meh about the whole thing. Also about having Bette Davis as your imaginary best friend, a spunky heroine, some sex and loads of glamour.
Cecilia Copeland - TIENE DUENDE (IT HAS SOUL)
Fernanda Coppel - NO HOMO
Full-length: 4W. Isabel and Rosie are expecting their first child together but a homophobic act of violence makes Isabel revisit and obsess about the not-so distant past.
Cynthia DeCure - MISS QUINCE
One-Act . 5 Women. Soledad Jenkins, an Americanized Puerto Rican woman walks into a quinceañera dress shop on her 45th birthday demanding to have the rite of passage she did not have as a teen. The women who work in the shop believe this woman must be crazy, but because the business is struggling financially, they agree to help her, even selling the dress meant for the shop owner’s own fourteen-year old daughter. Throughout the course of the play, each of the women take center-stage and, standing on a dress pedestal, magically recall moments from their own quinceañeras, helping the shop women understand why Soledad needs to reconnect with her roots via this ritual. When the shop owner’s teen returns to find that her dress was sold to this wealthy woman, Soledad is forced to reveal the real reason she now wants a quinceañera. This is a play about identity, transformation and forgiveness.
Amparo Garcia-Crow - THE BONOBOS
4W, 2M. A cyber bedroom farce. When seventeen year old Tiffany uses her father's computer one day to post an update on her instructional website for teens, the FBI arrests and charges him with child pornography, forcing the household to discover the 'missing link' that binds them all.
Anne Garcia-Romero - PROVENANCE
Full-length. When two sisters receive a stolen painting created by their Mexican great-grandfather, the women clash over whether to keep or sell the valuable artwork.
Michael John Garces - EARTHQUAKE WEATHER
5F, 6M. Things fall apart and the world begins. A changeling story.
Rogelio Martinez- FIZZ
Oliver Mayer - DARK MATTERS
Full-length. 2m, 1w. When two top-level particle physicists happen down the same area of inquiry involving SUSY (supersymmetry), sparks fly. Careers on the line, both men play hardball to win; but when their romantic happiness is threatened, the whole question of string theory finds itself on the chopping block. A comedy that connects supersymmetry to the harmonies of back-up singing and the songs of Donna Summer and Leonard Cohen.
Irma Mayorga - CASCARONES
Michael Mejias - GHETTO BABYLON
Full length. 5 M, 1 F. 1982. The West Farms Housing Projects. The South Bronx. CHARLIE ROSA, along with his cousin FELIX, and their krazy-ass best friend SPEC “THE SPECTACULAR” SANCHEZ, is having the little league summer of his life. August is filled with victory celebrations of pizza and grape Kool-Aid. It’s, as they say in the Boogedy, All Good. Then, there’s a girl. Because when you’re fourteen, there is always a girl. Her name is SARAFINA. Anywho, she brings Charlie a letter that was accidentally put in her mailbox. It’s an acceptance letter to the Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. HOORAY! Right? Nope, not really. Going to Exeter means a lot of things. A lot. Like maybe not playing on Championship Sunday, for starters. But also there’s leaving the Bronx, his family, his friends, and even his cat, El Presidente. With no one around he feels will understand, Charlie unwittingly conjures relief in the form of THECATCHER, a mysterious boy in a red deer-hunter’s cap, who just might be the main-character from his favorite novel. Together, they have to figure out if there‘s a way for Charlie to move forward without leaving it all behind.
Julian Mesri - PROGRESS
Full-length. 1W, 3M or 2W, 3M. Leonardo has grown up his whole life in the United States, but lives haunted by the Argentine dictatorship and a history that never seems to have closed itself up. But when he runs into one of these released Argentine generals in New York City, everything changes. Leonardo's revenge takes an unexpected turn when his two American friends - Roderick, a playwright, and Madeline, his photographer girlfriend, lead him towards the unimaginable. A biting comedic satire about revenge and remorse, love and country, Henry Kissinger, and the inexplicably grotesque consequences of brunch.
Alejandro Morales- ON RACHMANINOFF'S BIRTHDAY
4F (3 Latina; 1 non); 4M (1 Latino; 3 non). Spanning the Cuban Revolution to the fall of the Berlin Wall, On Rachmaninoff's Birthday tells the story of a half-Cuban, half-Russian musical family's longings surviving under two revolutionary regimes that has no room for their longing, passions ... and secrets. Shortlist for the 2013 McNally Award, Philadelphia Theater Company.
Carlos Murillo - YOUR NAME WILL FOLLOW YOU HOME.
Full-length. 5M,3 W. Young, reclusive novelist Danny Santiago came out of nowhere and took the literary world by storm. His novel was a gritty authentic depcition of Chicano life in East LA told through the eyes of a troubled teenager. But is it authentic? This play takes us on a wild odyssey to the darkest heart of these questions where Charlie Chaplin, aristocratic ex-Stalinists, the black list, 50s B-Monster Movies, East LA gangbangers, serial plagiarists and forgers, fake Latinos, and Jesse James intermingle?
Full-length. 3W, 3M. When two parents from Southern California cross the border into Tijuana, they stumble off the beaten path and are accosted by two Mexican parents in an alley only to find that their meeting was inevitable. An examination of what we do for our children and the borders that keep us apart.
Marisela Trevi~no Orta - AMERICAN TRIAGE
Full-length. 3W, 1M. Teens Lalo and Fatima struggle to keep their family and faith in tact when their parents are deported after immigration raids sweep through their city. But when Lalo turns to his guardian angel for help he sets into motion events that threaten to further fracture his family.
Carmen Pelaez - FAKE
Full-length. 2 W (30s, 60s), 3M (50s-60s) Camila has just been promoted to the head of the Latin American Art Department at a major NYC auction house when she is presented with one of her great Aunt Amelia's paintings as a last minute inclusion for auction. The authenticity of the painting is questionable, Camila's dedication to her great Aunt is not, forcing Camila to decide between her own burgeoning career and Amelia's legacy.
Christopher Oscar Pe~na - TINY PEOPLE, OR IT GETS BETTER
Full-length. 4M (3 white, 1 Latino), 2 W (white). Tiny People is a provocative and poetic remix of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, focusing on a family living in Barstow, California—and longing to reclaim their former life in San Francisco. Transposing Chekhov’s story to the mid-1990s, this thoughtful drama adroitly probes class, ethnic, and sexual-identity boundaries in turn-of-the-21st-century America.
Tatiana Suarez-Pico - PROFIT
Marco Antonio Rodriguez - ASHES OF LIGHT
Elaine Romero - WETBACK
Edwin Sanchez- LA BELLA FAMILIA
Full-length. 3 W, 3 M Bella, a reluctant hit woman living in a world of violence, meets Benny, the gentlest man in the world. Together they try to raise her
son, Joey while they deal with their crazy, needy and desperate next door neighbors.
Juan C. Sanchez- PROPERTY LINE
PROPERTY LINE by Juan C. Sanchez: (2W, 3M). When a property line survey reveals a land division error, two women, one fueled by territorial instinct and the other by grief after a recent tragedy, start a war over the placement of the fence that separates their houses.
Tanya Saracho - EL NOGALAR
Full-length. Set amid the explosive drug wars in present-day Northern Mexico, El Nogalar is the story of the Galván family's struggle to hold on to their homestead—and their precarious social status—before it slips away. The play shadows the family's housekeeper, Dunia, as she watches the family matriarch Maite and her daughters squander their money and risk losing everything to a local drug cartel. Despite warnings from friends and family, Maite ignores her dwindling fortune as stubbornly as she ignores the sinister capos simmering at her doorstep. This topical story explores the choice between adapting to the changing world—or getting left behind.
Caridad Svich - ARCHIPELAGO
Full-length. 2 actors (any gender, 20s-40s). A love story til the end of time. A play on memory and a memory play, a dream of life. Two lovers meets across the universe and wonder what happened to this world we call home.
Candido Tirado- KING WITHOUT A CASTLE
Full-length. 2W, 1 M. King Without a Castle is a black comedy. Isabel thinks she has giving birth to her husband. She's waiting for her son/husband Danny to turn twenty two years old in order to continue her life with husband. Danny copes with this forced identity by playing chess where he kills his father whenever he wins. He offers marriage to Soledad, who was about to jump off a bridge when he came upon her, and uses her as shield to keep Isabel away from him. These three characters fight for their own survival in this winner take all deadly situation they find themselves in.
Enrique Urueta - LEARN TO BE LATINA
Full-length. 4W, 2M. Hanan is a promising young pop singer, and she has a record label dying to record her...until they find out she's Lebanese. Not to worry, they say: Hanan can still be a star—as long as she learns to be Latina! A comedy about becoming what you're not to find out who you are.
and
Martin Zimmerman - STRANGER
More Writers and Plays to be announced soon. Please check this page for news!
THE PLAYS:
Each playwright has selected 1 play from their body of work to make part of this scheme. Next to each writer's name is the play they have selected. if a play is not listed next to an author's name, please stay tuned. We are in the process of making decisions!.
About the plays: Some are brand new plays. Others are from the author's hidden back catalogue. Others are representative pieces. Some are two handers, others are multi-character pieces. The range is vast and wide, as rich as US Latino theatre writing itself.
Scripts are available upon request by emailing NoPassport at 30playsin30days@gmail.com
GUIDELINES for 30/30:
So, how does 30/30 work? Simple.
a) stage 30 play readings of writers' works above on 30 consecutive nights at one venue
b) stage different play readings (of plays above) at 30 different venues across your city or region. Be creative. Partner up with galleries, coffehouses, college troupes, bands of actors, venues of different shapes, sizes, venues, and even outdoors!
c) stage 30 play readings in partnership with local and national venues - adding up to 30 days (in other words, doesn't have to happen all in one month!)
d) or any combination of the above - or chat with us about other ways you are thinking of making this happen! we want the conversation about the depth and range of vision in American playwriting to be at the forefront of this reading scheme. US Latina/o theatre is a vibrant and electic body of American drama. Let's celebrate it. And if you don't know that much about it or only a sliver, then this is a chance to be introduced to what is only (historically) a portion of the vast contemporary and modern work available.
HOW TO PLAN a 30/30 STAGED READING ACTION:
Between November 2013 and June 2014, NoPassport invites you to take part in 30/30- a celebration of US Latino theatre!
So, pick a venue. Pick a date or multiple dates/times. Select which plays (from list above) you wish to stage readings of script in hand. Let us know at 30playsin30days@gmail.com what you wish to do. We will put you in touch with the writers, and try to make the process flow smoothly.
Reach out to partners in your city/region or across the country. Maybe you want to do reading of one play and a partner wants to do reading of another. Coordinate! Talk to each other!
Keep us at NoPassport in the loop.
If your venue is not available until after March 2014, then please reach out to us. Maybe we can work something out!
WHAT WE ASK:
Each reading must be script in hand. Author must be notifed exactly about when and where reading is/will be taking place. We encourage dialogue, so do reach out! The whole point is to generate conversation and get artists to meet each other across the US and abroad! Through the work!
We trust you with the work. Respect author's wishes and their generosity with this scheme. We will do the same. As a saying goes, it ain't solidarity for nothing!
WHAT NoPASSPORT ASKS:
List your event as a collaboration with NoPassport theatre alliance and press. Please. We will list you on this page and keep our blog alive with news about the readings.
Use our 30/30 graphic for your publicity. Jpeg available upon request.
NoPassport can send you/collaborate with you on a sample press release when you have your reading consortium at the ready,
We are an unincorporated theatre alliance of artists. We have no funding body or infrastructure. This is grass roots. Our fiscal sponsor is Fractured Atlas. if you wish to donate something to keep NoPassport alive, then do so at http://www.fracturedatlas.org/donate/2623
NoPassport Press publishes all or many of the authors above through our print on demand imprint. So, buy one of our books. Check out our titles. Maybe coordinate one of your readings hands across the water style with a local bookshop and set up an author's signing event!
30/30 in ACTION:
First 30/30 reading is of IMA MAYORGA's CASACARONES on November 24, 2013:
Reservations: (505) 424-1601
MORE:
Stay tuned for more.
NoPassport: Dreaming the Americas