REPERTORIO ESPAÑOL ANNOUNCES THE FINALISTS OF THE 2021 MIRANDA FAMILY VOCES LATINX NATIONAL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION
Repertorio Español announces the finalists of The 2021 Miranda Family Voces Latinx Playwriting Competition, an initiative to develop and promote Latinx plays that resonate with and accurately depict the Latinx experience by playwrights of all racial and national backgrounds.
After receiving over one hundred scripts written by emerging playwrights across the United States and Puerto Rico, the company has selected five finalists that will have readings of their plays streamed. All readings will premiere on the Company’s Facebook and YouTube sites which can be found using the social handle repertorionyc.
The winners will be announced in the Fall and the prizes will consist of:
- Grand Prize Winner: $3,000
- 2nd Place: $2,000
- 3rd Place: $1,000
- 2 Runners up $500
ABOUT THE MIRANDA FAMILY FUND
For over 40 years, The Miranda Family has championed community activism. They have created and supported institutions that have served underserved populations throughout New York City, across the country, and in Puerto Rico. They continue to foster the family’s commitment to advocacy for education, the arts, and social justice – along with a sustained focus on relief and rebuilding efforts in Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria.
THE 2021 MIRANDA FAMILY VOCES LATINX NATIONAL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION FINALISTS:
AGOSTO INFINITO by Antonio García del Toro
Directed by Leyma López
Reading: Saturday, June 26th, 6 pm
Presented in Spanish
Playwright Bio: Antonio García Del Toro, is a Puerto Rican playwright, theatre director, and professor of language and literature, backed by a vast trajectory in professional theatre from a young age. His works in literary criticism and creation have been published in numerous specialized magazines. For more than fifty years he has been an active participant in the world of professional Puerto Rican theatre, most recognized for his excellent execution as a director and his abundant contributions in dramaturgy. Dr. García del Toro, recently retired from the Inter American University of Puerto Rico where he taught courses in Puerto Rican Language and Literature, Italian, and Theatre for more than thirty years.
About AGOSTO INFINITO: Following the death of his young son, a professor and his wife flee from a country ruled by one of the most fearsome dictators of the Twentieth Century. Under a new assumed identity, the couple open and operate a bookstore in a small city and spend the following years under the fear of their past catching up to them. The arrival of a young psychologist disrupts their present forcing them to relive the past and helping them make way towards a better future.
FROM THE FOUNTAIN by Joel Pérez
Directed by Carlos Armesto
Reading: Sunday, June 27th, 6 pm
Presented in English
Playwright Bio: Joel Pérez is an award-winning actor and writer living in NYC. His theater work includes Fun Home (Broadway), Kiss My Aztec! (La Jolla Playhouse) and Sweet Charity (New Group; Lortel Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical). TV work includes Jesus Christ Superstar Live! (NBC), Person of Interest (CBS) and Odd Mom Out (Bravo). He writes and performs with the musical theater sketch show SHIZ. He recently wrote and performed Black Beans Project at The Huntington Theatre. His new solo musical comedy Playing With Myself premieres at Ars Nova on June 28th. His play, The Church of the Holy Glory, premiered at Ars Nova ANTFest 2018. He is a 2021 TimeWarner 150 Artist Grant recipient for his original comedy pilot You’re Tired. You’re Poor. He is a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Playwriting from NYFA. Follow him at @misterjoelperez and visit www.joelperez.com
About FROM THE FOUNTAIN: After an extended self-imposed exile, Fernando returns to his hometown to attend the funeral of his Pentecostal pastor father, Ernesto, at the church he grew up in. Memories flood Fernando’s mind as he attempts to sort through the wreckage of his fractured family. From the Fountain is a play about faith, home, and what we are willing to sacrifice for our family.
MACHINE LEARNING by Francisco Mendoza
Directed by Andrés López-Alicea
Reading: Monday, June 28th, 6 pm
Presented in English
Playwright Bio: Francisco Mendoza is an Argentinian writer currently living in Brooklyn, NY after spending several years in Brazil. His work has been developed or presented at The New Group, the MacDowell Colony, and Northern Stage, among others. His scripts include stage plays Machine Learning (The Lark’s Playwrights Week, Yale Drama Series Runner Up, San Diego Rep Latinx Festival), Tooth For Tooth (Finalist, Sundance Theater Lab; Finalist, Princess Grace Fellowship), and Patriarch (Great Plains Theatre Conference). notrealmendoza.com
About MACHINE LEARNING: When his estranged, alcoholic father is diagnosed with liver cancer, computer scientist Jorge dreams up a nursing app to manage the disease in his stead. As the machine’s capabilities grow, however, the possibility of leaving it in charge of the treatment becomes more real, forcing Jorge to reckon with his responsibilities as a son—and as a creator.
THE EL PASO PLAY: 23 ACTS OF KINDNESS by Gregory Ramos
Directed by Jerry Ruíz
Reading: Tuesday, June 29th, 6 pm
Presented in English
Playwright Bio: Professor and Chair of the University of Redlands Department of Theatre Arts where he teaches directing, playwriting and diversity in the U.S. American Theater. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, began his professional career as a dancer and has taught at the University of Texas at El Paso and The University of Vermont. MFA, Playwriting UCLA. He’s a member of Actor’s Equity Association and The Lincoln Center Director’s lab.
About The El Paso Play: 23 Acts of Kindness: Inspired by interviews with community members in El Paso, Texas in the months after the mass shooting at Walmart in 2019. Told through 12 characters’ stories and impressions of the event, the play explores immigration, gun control, and the rise of white supremacy in America. Part docudrama, part theatrical montage, and part prayer for the future of America, a community reaches toward our shared humanity and collective healing.
PRINCESS CLARA OF LOISADA by Matt Barbot
Directed By Victoria Pérez
Reading: Wednesday, June 30th, 6 pm
Presented in English
Playwright Bio: Matt Barbot is a writer from Brooklyn, NY. His play El Coquí Espectacular and The Bottle of Doom received its world premiere at Two River Theater in January of 2018. The Venetians was a winner of Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2019 Columbia@Roundabout New Play Series. Matt received his MFA from Columbia University, and was recently a New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellow and a member of The Civilians’ R&D Group.
About PRINCESS CLARA OF LOISADA: With Mamá long gone and Papá in a trance, Lower East Side middle schooler Clara and her older brother José try to distract themselves from their bleak reality with fanciful stories. When strange events make the siblings realize these stories might be true – that, in fact, they may be making them come true – Clara is faced with a choice, and José will fight a magical battle for his sister’s destiny.
GENERAL INFORMATION
By phone: 1-212.225.9999 | Online: repertorio.nyc
