Latina/o Theatre Commons and The Public Host 2016 LTC Convening

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced today that the Latina/o Theatre Commons (LTC), in partnership with HowlRound, will co-host and co-produce the 2016 LTC New York City Convening, celebrating the vibrant history and exciting future of Latinx theater in NYC. The 2016 LTC New York City Convening will take place on December 1-4, 2016 at The Public Theater and other allied theaters across the city, in association with La Cooperativa of NYC Latinx Theatre Artists, Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, the Clemente Soto Veléz Cultural and Educational Center, Teatro Círculo, INTAR, Repertorio Español, Teatro SEA, and the Lark.

The 2016 LTC NYC Convening will coincide with the world premiere of Hilary Bettis's ALLIGATOR with New Georges at the ART/New York Theatres, directed by Elena Araoz. ALLIGATOR is presented as part of The Sol Project, an initiative birthed at the 2013 LTC National Convening in Boston. Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Public Theater, LAByrinth Theater Company, Atlantic Theater Company, and WP Theater join New Georges as the first six of 12 trailblazing theater companies that have signed on to present a Sol Project playwright as part of their respective main stage seasons.

"The Public is deeply honored to be hosting this important gathering of Latino theater artists," said Artistic DirectorOskar Eustis. "Now more than ever we need Latino voices, Latino artists, and Latino theater. This covening is a vital part of powering this movement."

The 2016 LTC NYC Convening will gather 175 Latinx theater artists, scholars, administrators, and advocates, along with other stakeholders in the New York City theater community for four days of conversations, networking, panels, performances, and parties as they discuss aesthetics, identity, and intergenerational leadership, all through a lens of abundance. Over the course of the convening, this group will convene in eight different New York Theaters in the effort amplify the vibrant theater ecology of Latinx theater in New York City, and to better advocate for, promote, and elevate the work of local Latinx artists through a convening that truly feels representative of New York City. Participants will be encouraged to brainstorm and implement solutions to the large-scale issues currently facing the field. LTC Convenings have previously taken place in Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, and Chicago to activate the Latinx theater communities in the various cities.

The 2016 LTC NYC Convening is made possible by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF), the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Barr Foundation, Time Warner Foundation, The Public Theater, Emerson College, and HowlRound. Additional sponsorship and partnership was provided by Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, the Clemente Soto Veléz Cultural and Educational Center, Teatro Círculo, INTAR, Repertorio Español, Teatro SEA, and the Lark.

The Latina/o Theatre Commons (LTC) in partnership with HowlRound 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. In May 2012, HowlRound hosted eight Latinx theatre practitioners at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. to discuss the state of the not for profit theatre field for Latinx theatermakers. Called together by playwright Karen Zacari?as, this group of artists set about making a change, and their conversations sparked the inception of the LTC. In 2013, they partnered with Latina/o theatre communities from around the US to create a steering committee and produced the first large scale gathering of Latinx theatre practitioners since 1986, the 2013 LTC National Convening, hosted by HowlRound at Emerson College, October 31-November 3, 2013. In Fall 2014, the LTC associate produced Encuentro 2014: A National Latina/o Theatre Festival with the Los Angeles Theatre Center and hosted the second LTC National Convening during the final weekend of the Festival. In July 2015, the LTC produced Carnaval 2015 in association with Teatro Vista and the Chicago Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists (ALTA) and was hosted by at The Theatre School at DePaul University. From October 2015 through December 2016, the LTC has expanded its points of accessibility to Dallas, TX, Seattle, WA, and New York City, NY through physical convenings, and to countless others through their online conversation platform, C?afé Onda. ?

HowlRound, located in the Office of the Arts at Emerson College, designs and develops online communication platforms and in-person gatherings that promote access, participation, organizational collaboration, field wide research, and new teaching practices to illuminate the breadth, diversity, and impact of a commons based approach to theatre practice. For more information, visit www.HowlRound.com.

The Public Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. Celebrating his 10th anniversary season at The Public, Eustis has created new community-based initiatives designed to engage audiences like Public Lab, Public Studio, Public Forum, Public Works, and a remount of the Mobile Unit. The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day. Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases in New York City for nearly 60 years, today the Company engages audiences in a variety of venues-including its landmark downtown home at Astor Place, which houses five theaters and Joe's Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to free Shakespeare in the Park; and the Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City's five boroughs. The Public's wide range of programming includes free Shakespeare in the Park, the bedrock of the Company's dedication to making theater accessible to all; Public Works, an expanding initiative that is designed to cultivate new connections and new models of engagement with artists, audiences and the community each year; and audience and artist development initiatives that range from Emerging Writers Group and to the Public Forum series. The Public is located on property owned by the City of New York and receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; and in October 2012 the landmark building downtown at Astor Place was revitalized to physically manifest the Company's core mission of sparking new dialogues and increasing accessibility for artists and audiences, by dramatically opening up the building to the street and community, and transforming the lobby into a public piazza for artists, students, and audiences. The Public is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning acclaimed American musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The Public has received 59 Tony Awards, 168 Obie Awards, 53 Drama Desk Awards, 54 Lortel Awards, 32 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics Awards, and five Pulitzer Prizes. www.publictheater.org.

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