The Latinx Theatre Commons Announces The 2024 Diane Awardee Miranda Gonzalez

The Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) has awarded the 2024 Diane Rodriguez Teatrista Award to Miranda Gonzalez. “The Diane” is the LTC's award dedicated to an individual working in the theatre field who is committed to increasing Latinx representation across disciplines. Named in honor of director, writer, performer, and advocate Diane Rodriguez, this award aims to support theatremakers in continuing her legacy. It also includes a $5,000 unrestricted award. Miranda succeeds the 2023 recipient Adriana Gaviria and inaugural 2022 recipient Patricia Garza.

“In its third year, we received over 60 nominations for The Diane. The Latinx Theatre Commons created this award to honor Diane's legacy and it has been incredible to watch it grow over the past three years. Our community has come together year after year and nominated their peers who are creating change in our field. Miranda has been a long time member of the LTC Steering and Advisory Committee. She has made an impact on the Chicago community through her work at UrbanTheater Company and on a national level as a collective member of Culture Change Lab and steering committee member of the National Latinx Theater Initiative,” said LTC Producer Jacqueline Flores. “It was fitting to see her name among the nominations. The committee discussed not only her accolades but how she shows up in space, the relationships she builds, and how she embodies  so many of Diane's values. The Latinx Theatre Commons is proud to recognize Miranda as the third recipient of The Diane Rodriguez Teatrista Award.”

The selection committee for this year's award included previous Diane recipients Patricia Garza and Adriana Gaviria; Diane's husband, Jose Delgado; Olga Garay-English, and Jacob Padrón.

“The continuation of Diane's legacy through The Diane Rodriguez Teatrista Award is vitally needed in our field to celebrate and recognize dedicated Latinx practitioners who are devoted to lifting up Latinx representation across disciplines. Receiving this award, as the inaugural recipient, moved me beyond measure and lit a fire in me to continue to dig deep and find even more pathways for the incredible Latinx artists in our field,” said Patricia Garza. “It's essential to amplify people who have been steadily doing the important work and provide that boost that they may need to grow and reignite their passion. Diane was always committed to opening doors and providing opportunities to others and I know it would have meant so much to her to support others doing the same.”

Miranda Gonzalez, born and raised in the city of Chicago, is a writer, director, producer, facilitator, and organizational strategist with a Bachelor of Science from DePaul University, and has co-created addressing anti-blackness in the Latiné community. Currently the Producing Artistic Director for UrbanTheater Company (UTC) in Humboldt Park, she has curated and led numerous interdisciplinary projects that blend theater, music, dance, and oral history to tell the stories of Chicago's history that mirror her identity and lived experience.  Also a collective member of Culture Change Lab, she helps support arts organizations, funders, and lobbyists in reimagining collective structures through operational management. Concurrently, she serves on the National Latinx Theater Initiative Steering Committee advocating for the advancement of Latinx artists and organizations, influencing policy.  In 2020 she was invited to record a TEDx talk  “The Fear of Decolonization”. With a deeply rooted history in ensemble practice, she was a founding member of Teatro Luna and has devised and developed plays since 2000. Recently selected to participate in Disney's Live Entertainment (DLE) 2024 Creative Intensive, Miranda was able to collaboratively present new entertainment concepts world-wide. Her most recent play Back In The Day: an 80's House Music Dancesical had its World Premiere at UrbanTheater Company.  Her current project Mascogos, a play that discusses the history of the underground railroad to Mexico, has been in development as a part of the Los Angeles Latino Theater Company's Imaginistas cohort formed in early 2021. Directing, writing, and script development credits include; Evolution of a Sonero by Flaco Navaja, Remote Learning Curve by Albany Park Theater Ensemble, Thank You for Coming. Take Care by Stacey Rose at Court Theatre, Ashes of Light by Marco Antonio Rodriguez, La Gringa by Carmen Rivera; Teatro Luna Productions S-E-X-Oh!, Lunaticas, Crossed, GL 2010, The North/South Plays a workshop at DCASE; F.O.P and Crime Scene Chicago with Collaboraction; and Melissa DuPrey's Sushi-Frito at Free Street Theater. She is also an Executive Producer for the web series 50 Blind Dates with Melissa DuPrey and has written for web series Ruby's World Yo created by Marilyn Camacho. Recipient of the Leaders for a New Chicago Award,  3Arts Award  and the International Centre for Women Playwrights 50/50 Award. Visit https://linktr.ee/chiblaxican if you'd like to learn more!

Nominations for the 2025 LTC Diane Rodriguez Teatrista Award will open in early 2025. Applicants will be nominated by peers and colleagues throughout the field and recipients will be selected by an appointed committee.

About the Latinx Theatre Commons

The Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) is a national movement that uses a commons-based approach to transform the narrative of the American theatre, to amplify the visibility of Latinx performance making, and to champion equity through advocacy, art making, convening, and scholarship. The LTC is a flagship program of HowlRound Theatre Commons.

LTC values include Service, Radical Inclusion, Transparency, Legacy & Leadership Cultivation, and Advancement of the Art Form. The actions of the LTC are championed by a volunteer Steering Committee made up of passionate Latinx theatremakers and scholars from across the country. The LTC Steering Committee is a self-organized collective that has chosen to adopt a commons-based approach to advocate for Latinx theatre as a vital, significant presence in the New American Theatre. The LTC fosters emergent national leadership through an organic organizing method of activating our networks and expanding our circles of connection. We seek to celebrate diverse connections, honor our past with reflection, and envision our future with optimism and enthusiasm.

About HowlRound Theatre Commons

HowlRound Theatre Commons, located in the Office of the Arts at Emerson College, is a free and open platform for theatremakers worldwide that amplifies progressive, disruptive ideas about the art form and facilitates connection between diverse practitioners. Using a commons-based approach, HowlRound invites open participation from theatremakers worldwide around shared values and envisions a theatre field where resources and power are shared equitably in all directions, contributing to a more just and sustainable world. For more information visit howlround.com.

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