LAS VIDAS ROTAS by Yessi Hernández won first place in the third edition of the competition. The playwright will receive a cash award of $3,000.

September 2022 – New York, NY – Repertorio Español announces the winners of The 2022 Miranda Family Voces Latinx Playwriting Competition, an initiative to develop and promote Latinx/Latine plays that resonate with and accurately depict the Latinx/Latine experience. The competition is inclusive of all playwrights who are at least 18 years of age and residents of the United States or Puerto Rico.

“As artists, we have the huge responsibility of telling our stories. As we share them, we also learn, we connect with others, and we heal. We realize that by expressing what deeply moves us, we have the chance to make a difference. We can inspire, we can create awareness, and we can have justice. I’m profoundly honored and humbled by this life-changing opportunity that Repertorio Español and The Miranda Family are giving to our community. Thank you for building a platform to showcase the valuable and necessary Latinx voices on American stages, and for opening a door to have these conversations that, many times, we can only hold in the extraordinary catharsis of theater.” – Yessi Hernández

The 2023 Competition begins now! Submissions are due by Thursday, December 15, 2022. A reading series will be held in Spring 2023. For info, please visit repertorio.nyc/voceslatinx or email aav@repertorio.org.

WINNERS OF THE 2022 MIRANDA FAMILY VOCES LATINX NATIONAL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION

1ST PLACE: (AWARD: $3,000)
LAS VIDAS ROTAS by Yessi Hernández from New York, NY
Playwright Bio: Venezuelan actress, writer, producer, and journalist of Cuban and Spanish descent. TV host of the prime-time show Soy Un Boom and voice of the radio stations Hot94.1FM and 88.1FM. Co-founder and Executive Director of Corezon and editor-in-chief of La Guía Cultural in New York. She is the recipient of HOLA, Latin ACE, ATI, Arte, Talía and Latin Alternative Theater Awards as an actress and playwright.

About Las vidas rotas: A Venezuelan immigrant makes her way in the United States in search of a better future and a dream: to bring her mother amid one of the most controversial governments in history.

2ND PLACE: (AWARD: $2,000)
BLACK MEXICAN by Rachel Lynett from Minneapolis, MN
Playwright Bio: Rachel Lynett (she/they) is a queer Afro-Latine playwright, producer, and teaching artist. Their play, White People by the Lake was a 2022 Blue Ink Award finalist. Lynett is also the 2021 recipient of the Yale Drama Prize for their play, Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson), and the 2021 recipient of the National Latinx Playwriting award for their play, Black Mexican.

About Black Mexican: Who gets to be a part of Latinidad? While Valery fights to prove Ximena isn’t Cuban, Alia has given up trying to prove that she is Latine. As the women in this play discover the truth about themselves and each other, they also must face the internal bias that allowed a white woman to be Cuban but don’t allow a Belizean to call herself Latine.

3RD PLACE: (AWARD: $1,000)
AGUA POR TODAS PARTES by Karina Curet from New York, NY
Playwright Bio: Born and raised in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Curet holds a BFA in Acting from SUNY Purchase and is a graduate student at the NYU Grad Acting Program. Has worked as an actor, Shakespeare and audition coach for teenagers and college students, casting assistant and playwright. NYU credits include: Three Sisters, The Tempest, and Learned Ladies of Park Avenue. SUNY Purchase credits include Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Tales from the Vienna Woods, Museum, Inspector General, and Blood Wedding.

About Agua por todas partes: Three siblings meet at their late mother’s house to pack up and clean before handing it over to the new owners. In doing so, they discuss a big part of their inheritance. Everyone has different ambitions: Mario wants to develop restaurants, Marcos wants to grow his own food, and Marina doesn’t even know if she’s staying in Puerto Rico anymore. While unboxing a childhood that unites them, they also unearth their resentments towards each other and end up with a truth that’s making them drown; they are grieving their mother’s death and don’t know how to deal with it.

RUNNERS UP (AWARD: $500)

THE CHRYSALIS by Miguel Enrique Fiol-Elias from Edina, MN
Playwright Bio: Miguel Enrique Fiol-Elias is a Puerto Rican Neurologist at the University of Minnesota, has lived in the Twin Cities for 25 years, done research, published in journals and five books- three novels and, two poems; The Chrysalis is his first play. He is interested in Puerto Rican diaspora issues, is a grandfather of five, and has an active lifestyle with community work, writing and is the founder of a cultural organization – Fidecomiso de la Familia Fiol- in his native hometown of Ponce.

About The Chrysalis: The Chrysalis brings to life the dreams of a Puerto Rican family struggling to survive identities pulling them apart. In 1980s Puerto Rico, the AIDS epidemic has struck fear throughout the southern city of Ponce and the island. Raul, as he comes out to his family, discovers the secret gay love affair of his deceased grandfather, whose spirit then comes to his help.

VISTIENDO SANTOS by Andrés Correa Guatarasma from New York, NY
Playwright Bio: Venezuelan-born journalist and playwright, has covered news from more than 25 countries. Graduated Cum Laude in Social Communications, with a MA in Foreign Affairs. Has written for El Universal, AP/Associated Press, Agencia EFE, and El Diario NY. He belongs to the NY Foreign Press Center, HFPA, International Federation of Journalists, Dramatists Guild of America, and the North American Academy of the Spanish Language, branch of “Real Academia Española” (RAE). A bilingual writer, five times finalist in Repertorio Español’s contests, he is a Collaborator of Sundance Institute (Theater Lab Selection Reader) and NY State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).

About Vistiendo santos: After an incident with her husband, Lulú flees from Texas to Santo Domingo, facing a long to-do-list with her family. Nothing has changed in her country, or has it? The reunion with her cousin Noelia contrasts the myths of “the American dream,” while Lulú yearns for a new life that would allow her to comfortably combine the best of both cultures: the Caribbean and the United States.

ABOUT THE MIRANDA FAMILY
For over 40 years, Luis A. Miranda, Jr. and Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda have championed community activism, viewing philanthropy as a three-pronged approach through giving, fundraising, and advocacy efforts. Along with Luz Miranda-Crespo, Lin-Manuel, Miguel Towns, and their respective spouses, Luis Crespo and Vanessa Nadal, they have created and supported institutions focused on underserved populations in Upper Manhattan, communities throughout NYC, across the country, and in Puerto Rico.

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