Fountain Theatre wins Best Season Award.
On Monday night, the Fountain Theatre won 7 LA Drama Critics Circle Awards:
Posted in actors, Arts, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, Athol Fugard, Best Production, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, David Kurs, deaf, Deaf West Theatre, Deborah Lawlor, Eddie Buck, El Nogalar, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, Gilbert Glenn Brown, In The Red and Brown Water, Iona Morris, Justin Chu Cary, LADCC, Laura Hill, Los Angeles, Maleni Chaitoo, Maya Lynne Robinson, new plays, Paul Raci, Peggy Blow, performing arts, plays, playwriting, Shirley Jo Finney, Simon Levy, Stephen Marshall, Stephen Sachs, Tanya Saracho, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Blue Iris, theater, theatre, Troy Kotsur, Victor Warren
Troy Kotsur and Erinn Anova in “Cyrano”
Last night was a memorable evening for the Fountain Theatre at the 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards. The Fountain swept all major categories, winning all 6 awards it was nominated for and, in addition, being honored for overall excellence with the Polly Warfield Award for Best Season. The Fountain/Deaf West production of Cyrano won 4 awards including Best Production of the Year. The Fountain’s acclaimed In the Red and Brown Water was honored for Direction and Best Ensemble.
The Fountain Theatre won 7 LA Drama Critics Circle Awards:
“Cyrano” team: Deaf West Artistic Director David Kurs, director Simon Levy, producer Deborah Lawlor, playwright Stephen Sachs, actor Troy Kotsur.
‘In the Red and Brown Water’ cast member Iona Morris enjoys the gala.
The LADCC Awards ceremony was held at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. The LA theater community enjoyed socializing with refreshments in the spacious lobby before and after the event. The crowd was an eclectic mix of theater artists, producers and journalists. In attendance from the Fountain Theatre were Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs, Producing Artistic Director Deborah Lawlor, Producing Director Simon Levy, director Shirley Jo Finney, publicist Lucy Pollak, and members of the cast from Cyrano and In the Red and Brown Water. Deaf West Artistic Director David Kurs accepted the Best Production Award for Cyrano on behalf of the both companies.
Simon Levy accepts Best Director Award for ‘Cyrano’.
“We are grateful for the Best Season Award because in 2012 we continued our longtime artistic relationships with old friends Athol Fugard and Deaf West, ” says Fountain Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs. “And we introduced important new playwrights Tanya Saracho and Tarell Alvin McCraney to Los Angeles audiences. Most important, our 2012 season exemplified the heart of our artistic mission: to create and produce new work that reflects the diversity of Los Angeles. Our four productions in 2012 included a new play by a Latina playwright, a new play performed in two languages serving the deaf community, the newest play by South Africa’s greatest writer, and a thrilling new work by a brilliant young African American playwright. ”
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, designers, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, American Sign Language, ASL, Athol Fugard, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, David Kurs, Deaf West Theatre, Deborah Lawlor, El Nogalar, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, In The Red and Brown Water, Iona Morris, Los Angeles, Lucy Pollak, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwriting, Shirley Jo Finney, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, Tanya Saracho, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Blue Iris, theater, theatre, Troy Kotsur, world premiere
The Fountain Theatre will be honored tonight at the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards when the Fountain is presented with the 2012 Best Season Award. The 2012 Fountain season included the west coast premiere of El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho, the world premiere of Cyrano by Stephen Sachs, the United States Premiere of The Blue Iris by Athol Fugard, and the Los Angeles Premiere of In the Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney. The award is accompanied by an honorarium funded by the Nederlander Organization.
In addition to the 2012 Best Season Award, The Fountain Theatre has also earned 6 LA Drama Critics Circle Award nominations for its acclaimed 2012 productions of Cyrano and In the Red and Brown Water:
More Info on the LA Drama Critics Circle Awards. Tonight’s award ceremony is at the Los Angeles Theatre Center at 7:30pm.
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, designers, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, Theater, theatre
Tagged 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, American Sign Language, ASL, Athol Fugard, Best Season, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Deaf West Theatre, Deborah Lawlor, El Nogalar, Fountain Theatre, In The Red and Brown Water, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Nederlander Organization, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwriting, Shirley Jo Finney, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, Tanya Saracho, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Blue Iris, theater, theatre, Troy Kotsur
Troy Kotsur and Erinn Anova in “Cyrano” at the Fountain Theatre (2012).
Just announced: The Fountain Theatre has earned 6 LA Drama Critics Circle Award nominations for its acclaimed 2012 productions of Cyrano and In the Red and Brown Water. In addition, the Fountain has also been honored by the LADCC with the Polly Warfield Award for Best Overall Season in 2012.
The 2012 LADCC Award nonminations for the Fountain:
The Polly Warfield Award for an excellent season in a small to mid-size theater will be awarded to The Fountain Theatre. The 2012 Fountain season included the west coast premiere of El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho, the world premiere of Cyrano by Stephen Sachs, the United States Premiere of The Blue Iris by Athol Fugard, and the Los Angeles Premiere of In the Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney. The award is accompanied by an honorarium funded by the Nederlander Organization.
The Fountain/Deaf West Theatre world premiere co-production of Cyrano ran for 4 sold-out months in 2012 and drew much critical acclaim. In the Red and Brown Water opened in October to rave reviews including being heralded as “Best in Theater 2012” by the Los Angeles Times. The acclaimed production has been extended and is still running at the Fountain to Feb 24th.
“In the Red and Brown Water” at the Fountain Theatre
photos by Ed Krieger
Posted in actors, Arts, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, American Sign Language, ASL, Athol Fugard, Best in Theater 2012, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, deaf, deaf actor, Deaf West Theatre, director, El Nogalar, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, In The Red and Brown Water, LADCC, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Los Angeles Times, Nederlander Organization, new plays, nominations, performing arts, plays, playwriting, Polly Warfield, Shirley Jo Finney, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, Tanya Saracho, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Blue Iris, theater, Troy Kotsur, West Coast Premiere, world premiere
The Fountain Theatre is dedicated to producing new plays that reflect the cultural diversity of Los Angeles and the the nation. To serve Latino/a audiences, we launched our 2012-13 season earlier this year with the West Coast Premiere of El Nogalar by Latina playwright Tanya Saracho.
“El Nogalar” (2012, Fountain Theatre)
Playwright Anne Garcia-Romero reports on the current state of Latino/a theater and the dream of creating a Latino/a Theatre Commons:
by Anne Garcia-Romero
Anne Garcia-Romero
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 U.S. Latino/a artists. A group of us met in D.C. 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 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. U.S. culture in the twenty-first century continues to move from a mono-cultural to a multi-cultural experience. However, U.S. theater currently does not always reflect this reality and therefore can perpetuate an outdated narrative. Contemporary Latino/a theater updates the U.S. narrative through presenting diverse cultural worlds that allow theater audiences to more fully understand the U.S. 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 U.S. from Mexico, the Caribbean, Spain, Central and Latin America, in addition to the complexities which arise from the intersections of these cultures with non-Latino/a cultures. This definition highlights the globalization of the U.S. Latino/a community and mirrors the fact that life in the U.S. is now an intercultural reality. According to the 2010 U.S. 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. U.S. 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, U.S. 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 multi-cultural U.S. experience.
Playwright Tanya Saracho
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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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, U.S. 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 U.S. 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. 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.
Under the current leadership of Lou Moreno, INTAR continues to produce new work by Latino/a playwrights.
José Cruz Gonzalez
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. Founded by José Luis Valenzuela and later co-directed by Luis Alfaro and Diane Rodriguez, LTI developed new works through in-house readings, festivals and yearly writers’ retreats.
Playwright Luis Alfaro
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 U.S. 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 U.S. Latino/a community.
2. Latino/a Theater Commons will pilot a bi-annual 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 U.S. theater. Members of the Steering Committee who will be involved in planning this meeting include as of this publication:
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 U.S. 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 U.S. narrative at the start of the twenty-first century.
Onward!
Anne Garcia-Romero’s plays have been developed and produced most notably at the NYSF/Public Theater, Summer Play Festival (Off-Broadway), The Mark Taper Forum, Hartford Stage, Borderlands Theater, and South Coast Repertory. Her newest play, Provenance, was part of the 2012 Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. She is currently writing a book on contemporary Latina playwrights. She’s an Assistant Professor of Theater at the University of Notre Dame and an alumna of New Dramatists.
Posted in actors, Arts, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged Anne Garcia-Romero, Anthony Rodriguez, Arena Stage, Borderlands Theater, Caridad Svich, Cherrie Moraga, Christopher Acebo, community, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Diane Rodriguez, El Nogalar, Enrique Urueta, Fefu and Her Friends, Fountain Theatre, Hartford Stage, Hispanic, Hispanic Playwrights Project, HowlRound, INTAR, José Cruz Gonzalez, José Rivera, Juliette Carrillo, Karen Zacarías, Kinan Valdez, Kristoffer Diaz, Latina, Latino, Latino Theatre Initiative, Latino/a Theatre Commons, Los Angeles, Lou Moreno, Luis Alfaro, Luis Valdez, Maria Irene Fornes, Mark Taper Forum, Max Ferrá, Michael John Garcés, Migdalia Cruz, New Dramatists, new plays, Nilo Cruz, Octavio Solis, Olga Sanchez, Patricia Ybarra, plays, playwriting, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Ricky J. Martinez, Rogelio Martinez, Sandra Delgado, South Coast Repertory, Tanya Saracho, theater, theatre artists, Theatre School at DePaul University, Tlaloc Rivas, West Coast Premiere, world premiere, Zoot Suit
by Lauren Gunderson
"El Nogalar" at the Fountain Theatre.
It appears that in many major theaters across the country, men’s roles out number women’s by half. One out of every three roles go to women. (An informal survey of 10 theatrical seasons from across the country that I did put women in only 35% of the total roles). This means that men’s stories out number women’s by the same amount.
Those of us noticing this could be considered big old whiners if it weren’t for some solid business-y sounding facts:
In any other market the majority of consumers would significantly define the product or experience. Why not theater?
Raushanah Simmons in "In the Red and Brown Water"
I will disclaim right away that this is not about women playwrights, though plays by women represent less than 20% of the works on and off-Broadway and in regional theaters (and also in the UK, as The Guardian illuminates). I consider August: Osage County and In The Red And Brown Water plays about women though men wrote both.
This is about modern theater telling its predominantly female audiences that the human experience deserving of dramatic imagination is still the male one. In TV, this might be a top-down insistence. In politics or business we see it all the time. But in theater?
Sean Daniels, Artist-At-Large/Director of Artistic Engagement at Geva Theater, says:
“In addition to it being inconceivable in 2012 to not program any female playwrights (or really any year past 1913), it’s also just bad business. Just from a business model, look at Menopause: The Musical. Though we may take it to task for not hitting all of Aristotle’s Six Elements, it’s a show that looked at who the main people buying tickets were, and allowed them to see themselves on stage — thus making millions and not only preaching and loving the choir, but getting tons of new patrons into the theater.”
But what would it be like if this were more common? What if American theater equally reflected and projected its own audience (at least 60% women) and their audience’s wallets (which are in their purses) in their season choices?
Estelle Parsons on Broadway in "August: Osage County"
Theaters might make more money. A friend and artistic leader at a major regional theater remarked on the marked success of Molly Smith Metzler’s plays Elemeno Pea, a play about sisters. Or what about Tracy Letts runaway hit August: Osage County (a play with incredible parts for women including three sisters), or Lynn Nottage’s Ruined, or Margaret Edson’s Wit, or John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt or Steve Yockey’s Bellwether (with seven parts for women)?
Cate Blanchett in "Streetcar Named Desire".
We wouldn’t lose our classics. Shakespeare’s plays are notoriously under-femmed, but not all of them are. Give me Much Ado About Nothing or Twelfth Night or wacky Midsummer. Or re-imagine the Bard for us. I saw a truly fresh and powerful production of Julius Caesar at Oregon Shakespeare Festival last year in which Caesar was unapologetically played by a woman (it might have been the best show I saw all year, including my own). I didn’t think “Oh look at that woman playing a man’s part.” I thought, “Oh my god she’s channeling Benazir Bhutto.”
Ibsen also gave us stunning women’s stories. So did Shaw, Chekov, Williams, Miller. And don’t forget the female playwrights of those same eras. Complex parts for more than one token women are there for the planning.
We might inspire new classics. I’m not telling playwrights what to write.Wait. Hell yes I am. And I’m hoping they get commissions to do so. Please write those complex and shocking and profound parts for our great female actors. Lead roles, supporting roles, lots of roles. Imagine writing for Stockard Channing or Viola Davis or Amy Morton or Meryl Streep. How about putting all of them in the same play. Oh my god, I just died a little thinking about it.
However, the now famous study by social scientist Emily Glassberg Sands about gender bias in theater says that though female playwrights write more roles for women, they are aware that plays with female protagonists aren’t as likely to be produced as plays with male protagonists. “One way women have compensated for writing female stories is to write fewer [female] roles, which make their plays accessible to more theaters,” the study finds.
So American theater might need a theatrical version of the The Bechdel Test for movies which names the following three criteria: (1) it has to have at least two women in it, who (2) who talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man.
There are bright spots however. Chloe Bronzan and Robert Parsons of Symmetry Theater in San Francisco have already put into practice their own version of the Bechdel Test. They built their company around the precepts: “We will never produce a play with more male than female characters,” they said, “We will never have more male than female union actors on our stage and we will produce plays that tell stories which include full, fleshed out and complex women that serve as propellants to the human story being told.”
"Menopause: The Musical"
We won’t lose our audiences, but we might just gain new ones. Another Artistic Director colleague noted that if theater companies counted Menopause: The Musical as part of their actual season (as opposed to the touring or rental production it usually is) it would be the best-selling show in their histories. Why? Women go to the theater and they bring their friends if they have shows that reflect their experiences. A dear friend connected with August: Osage County‘s fierce females so much that she flew from Atlanta to New York three times just to see it as many times on Broadway.
As Hanna Rosen has pointed out in her articles and lectures — there is a definitive rise in women as breadwinners and moneymakers in this country. I live in the Bay Area and am delightfully surrounded by brilliant women running major intuitions, businesses, and government orgs. Smart institutions will notice this and deliver. Women are already your majority, and women share experiences with other women, so it shouldn’t be hard to bring new women into the theater patronizing community.
Sean Daniels again:
“I think there’s a hidden thinking in here that men won’t watch women centric plays, but women will watch men centric plays — which really just sells everyone in that equation short. There are men watching The Hunger Games, but eventually there won’t be ladies watching dude filled plays and seasons.”
Viola Davis in "Fences".
We might help the world. Women are always underrepresented in positions of money, power, and personal safety. This comes, as most inherent biases do, from a lack of understanding and empathy. If we see more stories of women on stages across the country and the world we can change that.
Maybe what we really dream of is the day when plays by and about women would stop being “women’s plays” and start being — oh, y’know — really successful, moneymaking, audience-supported, universal, true, bold, smart plays. Everyone wants those plays, no matter what your gender.
Theater audiences want the designers of theatrical seasons to pay attention to the women onstage. Count them (as Valerie Week is doing in The Bay). The women in your audiences will.
Joy Meads of Center Theater Group in LA says:
“It’s frustrating that we have to have this conversation in 2012. But I’ve experienced this in my conversations about plays with colleagues across the country. Colleagues dismissing a play because its female protagonist was ‘unlikable.’ Producers should recognize that ‘we just choose the best plays’ is no longer an adequate defense: no one believes that there’s a shadowy cabal of avowed misogynists determined to keep women offstage. We need to be brave and rigorous in examining the shadowy, unconscious ways gender bias influences our decision making.”
Theater should be in the complex and necessary business of illuminating the human condition, of inspiring empathy and community, of provoking understanding, of entertaining and surprising and exposing and making beautiful the complete world of our time.
You know what helps that?
Telling everyone’s stories.
Lauren Gunderson is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and short story author living in The Bay Area. She received her MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch, her BA from Emory University, is an NYU a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her work has received national praise and awards. She writes for The Huffington Post.
Posted in Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, actress, American Theatre, Amy Morton, Arthur Miller, audiences, August: Osage County, Bellwether, Broadway, Cate Blanchett, Center Theater Group, Chekhov, Chloe Bronzan, Doubt, El Nogalar, Elemeno Pea, Emily Glassberg Sands, Estelle Parsons, female roles, Fountain Theatre, gender, Geva Theater, Hanna Rosen, In The Red and Brown Water, John Patrick Shanley, Joy Meads, Julius Caesar, Lauren Gunderson, Lynn Nottage, Margartet Edson, Menopause: The Musical, Meryl Streep, Midsummer, Molly Smith Metzler, Much Ado About Nothing, Off-Broadway, Raushanah Simmons, Robert Parsons, Ruined, Sean Daniels, Shakespeare, Steve Yockey, Stockard Channing, Symmetry Theater, Tanya Saracho, Tennessee Williams, The Bechdel Test, Tracy Letts, Twelfth Night, Viola Davis, Wit, women, women's roles
A beautiful Sunday afternoon for the final matinee of "El Nogalar",
Before the final matinee, the audience gathers in the upstairs cafe.
Mexican food was enjoyed at the after-show party.
Stage manager Mitzi Delgado and her mother, Adela Delgado.
Actress Sabina Zuniga Varela and Fountain Producing Director Simon Levy.
Actress Isabelle Ortega.
Actor Justin Huen and William Sachs.
The Fountain Trio: Simon Levy, Deborah Lawlor and Stephen Sachs.
Sabina Zuniga Varela with her proud parents.
Deborah Lawlor and Denise Blasor.
The "El Nogalar" company.
Bravo on a wonderful run!
Posted in actors, Arts, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, theatre
Tagged Deborah Lawlor, Denise Blasor, Diana Romo, El Nogalar, Fountain Theatre, Isabelle Ortega, Justin Huen, laurie Woolery, Los Angeles, Luis Alfaro, Mitzi Delgado, new plays, plays, Sabina Zuniga Varela, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, Tanya Saracho, William Sachs, Yetta Gottesman
by Leah Bergman
Have you ever watched a film and been deeply and profoundly moved, or read a book that changed your perspective? That is the type of impact that the play El Nogalar, written by Tanya Saracho, is having upon audiences everywhere.
El Nogalar delves into the complexities that Mexico is facing due to the drug war. “It is topical and what is happening right now. If you take a glass and you put it on that area and look inside, everyone is being affected by that,” said Saracho.
The play artfully weaves through the intricacies of the Mexican caste system and how the drug war is affecting each person’s role within the societal unit. Saracho does this in such a poignant way that the viewer is able to see and feel each character’s point of view in a personal way. The pain and sorrow that is felt by the characters becomes universal where everyone, Latino or Non-Latino, can relate.
The play was inspired by Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. The name “El Nogalar” reflects what is grown in Mexico – Pecans. Saracho said,”My mom picked the name…, she said, ’Look it up on your internet. It can’t be cherries. We don’t grow cherries!’”
The name wasn’t the only twist that Saracho added; she made the cast mostly females. She likes to expose, “Life from the point of view of women. “ She continued with, “Talking about Latina women and Mexican women and complicating their image is important to me. It is also important to me to change their stereotype.”
Her vision of bringing light to the woman’s perspective began before being commissioned by Chicago’s Teatro Vista to write El Nogalar. Twelve years ago Saracho formed an all-women’s company entitled Teatro Luna. “When we formed Teatro Luna, we were called man haters in the press… My writing has been criticized for that. There are enough plays for men,” said Saracho. She contests claims of being exclusive by saying, “It is not exclusive. It is inclusive. I am including the female voice.”
The female voice is not the only theme expressed in her writing. Saracho passionately explains, “I’m obsessed with class– if we are speaking thematically. I’m obsessed by how we (Latinos) are seen as the immigrant in the U.S., and I’m obsessed with gender.” This would not seem surprising as she was born in Sinaloa, Mexico, but grew up in the adjoining border towns of Reynoso, Mexico and McAllen, Texas. She was entrenched in both cultures learning both languages. She was educated in the U.S. She attended high school in Texas and went on to Boston University to graduate in theater studies.
At Boston University her writing skills flourished. She put up three plays for the student festival. This, however, was not the beginning of her story telling. “I was the one who entertained the sisters and I was always a story teller. I liked to terrify them with “La Llorona”, a legend of a wailing women,” she laughs contagiously, and continues, “I used to tell jokes. Now I don’t even know one joke… My grandparents would put me on the table and you would either dance or tell a poem or a joke.”
There seems to be no limit to her storytelling and incredible talent. In fact, El Nogalar is actually the first in a trilogy that Saracho has written. Song of the Disappeared is the next play in the series. It takes place on the Texas side of the border where the crime element has now infiltrated. The last installment of the trilogy is entitled Nights. The characters have been kidnapped and stay alive by telling stories like in the book: Thousand Nights and One Night.
El Nogalar is so moving that it truly is a must see. Saracho’s soulful writing leaves a profound impact on viewers. This play has put her on the radar, and is only the beginning to a brilliant career. Saracho is definitely someone to watch for in the future.
Leah Bergman writes for Latino Weekly Review.
El Nogalar Now Playing to March 11 (323) 663-1525 More Info
Posted in actors, Arts, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, theatre
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Diana Romo, drug wars, El Nogalar, Fountain Theatre, Isabelle Ortega, Justin Huen, Latino, laurie Woolery, Los Angeles, Luis Alfaro, Mexico, playwriting, Sabina Zuniga Varela, Tanya Saracho, Teatro Luna, Texas, The Cherry Orchard, West Coast Premiere, Yetta Gottesman
By Tony Bartolone
When I walked into the backyard of a house in East LA it was a classic fish out of water scenario. Everybody there seemed to have a great passion for Latino theatre, a passion (by the simple nature of my ethnicity) my heart does not possess. As a white male born in the mid-eighties, racial prejudice is not something that has heavily impacted my life. However, the more food shared and the more conversations that developed, the more I felt connected with their spirit.
Luis Alfaro and Tanya Saracho
The reason people were gathered at a house in East Los Angeles was to hear from feminist, Latina playwright Tanya Saracho. Born in Sinaloa, Mexico, Saracho moved to Texas in 1989. But it was in Chicago where she really made her mark. Fresh out of college, the young actress soon became frustrated with the limited potential of acting roles she was able to play. It seemed that her “type” was confined to play Latina stereotypes, such as the Mexican housemaid. Armed with her outgoing, infectious personality combined with her desire to play more substantial characters, Ms. Saracho co-founded Teatro Luna, a Chicago-based, Latina theatre ensemble. And it was with this company of women that she started writing.
Respected Chicano playwright and recipient of the 1997 MacArthur Genius Grant, Luis Alfaro conducted an informal (yet informative) interview with Saracho. What was compelling was how unpretentious and friendly the entire event was. The concept of interviewing somebody naturally puts that person on a pedestal. Yet the guest of honor was so down-to-Earth, it was much more conversational and relaxed than any ‘Q & A’ I had ever attended. Both humble and confident, Alfaro and Saracho sitting on a sofa and talking candidly about their beliefs and experiences was a rare pleasure.
Responsible for putting on this wonderful event was Individual Artist Collective. IAC is a new arts group dedicated to ensuring that any conversation about theatre is not a practice excluding certain groups. In other words, they stand for diversity in discussion of theatre. The collective was formed for similar reasons that Tanya Saracho started writing; there was an immediate need for it. Living in the City of Angels, there is not a day that goes by I am not somehow influenced by Latino culture. But when I turn on the TV or go to the movies or see a play, their presence is lacking, to say the least. When considering race, it’s strange that these mediums are often the first to mention an issue, but the last to build a significant foundation for progress.
"El Nogalar" at the Fountain Theatre
El Nogalar (“The Pecan Orchard”), Tanya Saracho’s loose adaptation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, premiered on the West Coast January 28th at The Fountain Theatre. “When I was in school, I felt that Chekhov was the most Latino playwright I came across” said Saracho before talking about her hesitations in moving to Los Angeles. She described herself as “too much of a Chicago girl.” While she’s not completely committed to transplanting herself to the West Coast, it’s nice to have her here for now. On behalf of Southern California, I would like to welcome Tanya Saracho and wish her all the fortunes she deserves. Salud!
El Nogalar Now Playing to March 11 (323) 663-1525 More Info
Tony Bartolone is a staff writer for pLAywriting in the city.
Posted in Arts, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged Anton Chekhov, diversity, El Nogalar, Fountain Theatre, Individual Artist Collective, Latino, Los Angeles, Luis Alfaro, MacArthur Genius Grant, new plays, plays, playwriting, Tanya Saracho, The Cherry Orchard, West Coast Premiere
The upstairs cafe was buzzing with delicious Mexican food, tequila and happy Fountain folk!
Mark Taper's Diane Rodriguez congratulates Tanya Saracho on her beautiful play.
Actress Isabelle Ortega and friend.
Actress Sabina Zuniga Varela.
Actress Yetta Gottesman.
Sabina Zuniga Varela, Deborah Lawlor, Diana Romo and her brother, Cesar Alvarez.
Playwright Tanya Saracho and director Laurie Woolery.
Actress Isabelle Ortega thanks playwright Tanya Saracho. Besos!
A toast! To the company of "El Nogalar"! Ole!
Tequila shots!
Tequila too strong?
Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs and Tanya Saracho.
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El Nogalar Now Playing to March 11 (323) 663-1525 More Info
Posted in Fountain Theatre, performing arts, plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged Deborah Lawlor, Diana Romo, Diane Rodriguez, El Nogalar, Fountain Theatre, Isabelle Ortega, Latino, laurie Woolery, Los Angeles, Mark Taper Forum, Mexico, plays, Sabina Zuniga Varela, Stephen Sachs, Tanya Saracho, West Coast Premiere, Yetta Gottesman
