Austin Latino New Play Festival
by Teatro Vivo

Apr. 27 - Apr. 29, 2023
Thursday-Saturday

Every year, Teatro Vivo presents staged readings of new plays through the Austin Latinx New Play Festival. This year's festival includes plays by UT faculty and current students, with collaborators from within the department and across the country.

The Austin Latinx New Play Festival brings artists and audiences together for one week of new plays and discussions centering the Latinx experience. The plays are presented as workshop-style staged readings, breathing life into new characters and showcasing original stories. Audiences are invited to join in the conversation by participating in talkbacks with the directors and playwrights following each performance. The resulting festival serves as a celebration of new works that speak to the Latinx experience, with Latinx stories and characters, as well as a space for writers to dig deeper into their works.

This year's festival showcases five plays by artists from across the country. Student, alumni and faculty work can be seen in all five of these works. The festival kicks off on Thursday, April 27 with a reading of Cocina Latina, written by Atlanta-based playwright Joey Florez and directed by Ana Laura Santiago, with dramaturgy by faculty member Michael Ávila. Day two of the festival presents Growing Up With Big Hair, written by Chicago native Diana Mucci and directed by alum Oscar Franco (B.F.A. 2014). Alumna Jelisa Robinson (B.A. 2014) serves as dramaturg for this piece, which features a six-person cast including alumni Si Mon' Emmett (B.F.A. 2018) and Jorge Galan (B.A. 2013). 

The remaining three plays will be on stage Saturday, April 29, all written by UT Theatre and Dance artists. The full day of new works kicks off at 11:00 a.m. with el bailador, a play for all audiences written by graduate student Mateo Hernandez, with dramaturgy by graduate student Deen Rawlins-Harris. The festival continues later that afternoon with another play for young audiences, Papakō: The Journey, written by faculty member Roxanne Schroeder-Arce, Maria F. Rocha and Genevieve Schroeder-Arce. College of Fine Arts Early Career Fellow Bella Varela serves as dramaturg. Both plays are directed by alum Juan Leyva (B.F.A. 2021) and feature the same cast of actors, including alumna Cherry Mendoza (B.A. 2014) and UTeach Theatre students Gabriel Gomez Reyes and Davina Silva.

The final reading of the 2023 Austin Latinx New Play Festival is Diving Board, written by current M.F.A. candidate Malena Pennycook and directed by Rolando Vela. The creative team also includes stage management by B.A. student Kayla Alonzo and dramaturgy by faculty member Patrick Shaw. In addition to artists working on individual shows, former student Alexandria Sepulveda is working as the Festival Manager, ensuring things are running smoothly throughout the festival.

The festival will take place at the Dougherty Arts Center on April 27-29, 2023. Click here to learn more about the 2023 Austin Latinx New Play Festival.

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Austin Latino New Play Festival
by various
Teatro Vivo

Teatro Vivo Presents: The Austin Latinx New Play Festival
Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 7 pm
Friday, April 28, 2023 at 7 pm
Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 11:30 am, 2 pm and 7 pm

For information on tickets visit: teatrovivo.org