DETECTIVE Q Takes Over Teatro Vista's Instagram With 10 Free Micro-Episodes

Detective Q has been taking over @teatrovista's Instagram feed all week to tell a tale...about The Sharpest Line.

Teatro Vista's new moving graphic novel, written and created by ensemble members Marvin Quijada and Gabriel Ruiz, is dropping 10 micro-episodes over five days this week, right now, exclusively on @teatrovista's Instagram feed.

Film noir meets mime in this fast-action, funny, genre-defying digital episodic about the misadventures of an urban, animated private eye, new from Teatro Vista, Chicago's leading Latine theater company.

Each chapter, like "Episode 2: How Not to Do a Stakeout'' and "Episode 3: How to Get Hit by a Car," runs under a minute, combining comic adventure animation, live action, video, urban locales, and because it's from Teatro Vista, an all-Latine cast.

Already, Detective Q is gaining fans, attracting more than 2,500 views in the show's first week alone. And clearly, Detective Q, the character, is keeping close track as his story unfolds on social media, peppering the comments section of every episode with enigmatic wisecracks, and maybe even a few clues.

Quijada, aka "Silent Marvin," mimes the titular character, Q, while Ruiz voices his flinty detective slang. The two friends, longtime members of Teatro Vista, dreamed up the character Detective Q and used to stage skits about him for friends before the pandemic. When lockdowns arrived, so did their determination to find a way to take Detective Q from the stage to the digital page.

Teatro Vista ensemble members Charin Alvarez and Ayssette Muñoz along with NK Gutiérrez, Kendra Jamaica, Abigail Piñon and Jessi Realzola, play various ne'er-do-wells and nocturnal low lives populating the seamy underbelly of Detective Q. Teatro Vista's newest work of digital theater also benefits from the talents of Natty Galde (production manager), Sarah Albrecht (costume designer) and Kasey Bernt (editing assistant).

Following the show's exclusive rollout on Instagram, the series will be posted on Teatro Vista's YouTube page, adding to the company's growing library of free digital content.

i??Future plans include publishing Detective Q in printed, comic-book form, plus the possibility of Detective Q live pop-up events, including interactive screenings in immersive environments coupled with in-person appearances by Detective Q and his moving graphic novel frenemies.

"As a great philosopher once said, 'to infinity and beyond!," said Quijada. "I am thrilled that Teatro Vista has provided this platform to launch Detective Q into the digital stratosphere, while giving our ensemble members an opportunity to explore radically new paths and mediums of creativity."

Log on to Teatro Vista's Instagram feed to catch the misadventures of Detective Q. For more information, visit teatrovista.org, where you can sign up for Teatro Vista's newsletter, or follow Teatro Vista on Twitter or Facebook.

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