Latinx Playwrights Circle Announces Off-Broadway Co-Production And HOLA Award For Excellence In Theater

The Latinx Playwrights Circle has announced the Off-Broadway Premiere of Christin Eve Cato's Sancocho directed by Rebecca Martinez, in partnership with WP Theater and The Sol Project.

"Ever since we began building our programming to reflect different stages of play development we knew we needed to get to a place where we could provide our playwrights with a production. Now that we can, we are immensely proud to give Christin, a Latina playwright, a Boricua born and raised in the Bronx, her Off-Broadway debut and we are so grateful to share this milestone with WP Theater and The Sol Project" Janio Marrero, Executive Director of LPC

Simmering between two Puerto Rican sisters is a family tension that finally comes to a boil. Forced to confront the reality of their father's rapidly declining health, Renata and Caridad clash over cultural divides, unearth old wounds, and reveal long-buried secrets. As Caridad's sancocho bubbles on the stove, will the two sisters reconcile their past resentments to face their uncertain futures - together?

This production launches the Page to Stage Program at LPC. Page To Stage is a program that gives playwrights within the LPC community the opportunity to receive a production depending on the needs of the play. Page to Stage was made possible in part by the Creatives Rebuild New York grant. Sancocho was originally developed at LPC's Sunday Service and at the Fresh Draft Series.

With so many of the most prestigious development organizations having to close their doors during the pandemic, and the historical exclusion of Latinx(é) playwrights within the American theater, LPC has provided a much needed home to many playwrights. In November, the artist-led organization received the HOLA Award for Excellence in Theater alongside LAByrinth Theater Company.

"Latinx Playwrights Circle is among the most exciting new arts groups to form in NYC in the past couple of years, an artist-led initiative to challenge the national theater scene to produce more Latinx playwrights, while the playwrights develop their works together here in NYC. Their model is to serve as an incubator and mutually supportive talent base to launch Latinx playwrights nationwide..." HOLA Awards.

Founded in 2017, LPC has provided space for staged readings through their Intensive Mentorship Program, which partners emerging playwrights with mentors with the Latinx(é) community, and the Greater Good Commission and Festival, which was founded by poet and playwright Darrel Alejandro Holnes as a response to the needs that surged during the pandemic.

Sancocho will run March 11-April 9, 2023 for a limited engagement. Tickets are now available at https://ci.ovationtix.com/34655/production/1145222. The ticket range is $29-$79 during previews, and $39-$89 after opening night.

LATINX PLAYWRIGHTS CIRCLE (LPC) is an artist-led development and production organization for Latinx(é) playwrights. Founded in 2017 by playwrights Guadalís Del Carmen and Oscar Cabrera with the mission to build a network of Latinx(é) playwrights nationwide in order to promote, develop and elevate their work while making their plays accessible to theater makers looking to find the next generation of American Storytellers. Its programs include Sunday Service, Fresh Draft Series, Greater Good Commission and Festival, Intensive Mentorship Program, LPC Community Nights and Page-to-Stage, whose inaugural production is Sancocho by Christin Eve Cato. In 2020 LPC received a residency at Kabayitos Theater, located in the Clemente Soto Velez Center where it produces a portion of their programming. In 2022 LPC was awarded a Creatives Rebuild New York Grant (CRNY) as well as the HOLA Award for Excellence in Theater. For more information on Latinx Playwright Circle and its many programs please visit http://www.latinxplaywrights.com LPC embraces the ever evolving landscape of Latinidad and the names used to describe this community, including Latiné, Latinx, Hispanic, and the next generation of names to come. Like language itself, this is an ever evolving name.

Christin Eve Cato (Playwright) is a playwright and performing artist from the Bronx. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Indiana University and completed her BA in Political Science and Philosophy at Fordham University. Cato is also a graduate of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for Music and Art and the Performing Arts. She is affiliated with NYC theater companies, Pregones/PRTT (ensemble member & former Resident Dramaturg), INTAR Theatre (UNIT 52 ensemble member), and the Latinx Playwrights Circle. Cato's artistic style is expressed through Caribbean culture and the Afro-Latinx diaspora, honoring her Puerto Rican and Jamaican roots. Recent off-broadway productions include The Good Cop (DUAF 2022) . Upcoming productions include, Sancocho (Vision Latino Theatre Company/ Destinos, 5th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival); American Made (Samuel French OOB Festival/ NYC); and an audio play journey, The Mayor of Hell's Kitchen Presents: A Time Traveling Journey Through NYC's Wild West (The Parsnip Ship & Playwrights Horizons/ NYC).

REBECCA MARTÍNEZ (Director) is a director, choreographer, and ensemble member of Sojourn Theatre and the BOLD Associate Artistic Director of WP Theater. From Denver, Colorado with deep ancestral roots in the Southwest, she's now based in Brooklyn, NY. Recent projects: Pandemic Fight (Theatre for One: Here We Are - New York Times Critics Pick), I Am My Own Wife (Long Wharf Theatre); Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Miss You Like Hell (Baltimore Center Stage). Member of: Sol Project Collective, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, INTAR's Unit52, SDCF Observer, Latinx Theatre Commons Advisory Committee, 2019 Audrey Resident, New Georges Affiliated Artist, 2018-2020 WP Lab, 2017 Drama League Directing Fellow, Member of SDC. Rebeccamartinez.org

THE SOL PROJECT is a national theater initiative dedicated to amplifying the voices of Latiné playwrights by supporting, nurturing, and advocating for fully realized productions in NYC and beyond. Founded by Jacob G. Padrón and driven by an artistic collective, The Sol Project works in partnership with leading theaters to center Latiné dramatists and nurture a growing community of Latiné theater artists. With the writers we champion, The Sol Project aspires to create a bold, timeless, and kaleidoscopic body of work for the new American theater.

The Sol Project launched in 2016 with the world premiere of Alligator by Hilary Bettis in collaboration with New Georges, followed by the New York premieres of Seven Spots on the Sun by Martín Zimmerman (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater) and Oedipus El Rey by Luis Alfaro (The Public Theater). In the fall of 2018, The Sol Project collaborated with Yale Repertory Theatre to produce the world premiere of El Huracán by Charise Castro Smith and in early 2020 partnered with Baltimore Center Stage and The Playwrights Realm to produce the world premiere of Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally by Noah Diaz. In 2022, The Sol Project partnered with Soho Rep for the world premiere of Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members by Mara Vélez Meléndez. And in spring of 2023, The Sol Project will partner with MCC Theater for the world premiere of Bees and Honey by Guadalís Del Carmen, as well as WP Theater and Latinx Playwrights Circle for the Off-Broadway premiere of Sancocho by Christin Eve Cato. In addition to productions, The Sol Project advances its mission by producing a yearly new play festival, SolFest, in partnership with Pregones/Puerto Riacan Traveling Theater, while also supporting our community through readings, workshops, a podcast (SolTalk), and ongoing symposia.

The artistic collective includes Adriana Gaviria (Co-Artistic Director), Rebecca Martínez, David Mendizábal, Jacob G. Padrón (Co-Artistic Director), Julian Ramirez, and Laurie Woolery. Isabel Pask is the Producing Associate. Brian Herrera is the Resident Scholar. Stephanie Ybarra is the Resident Dramaturg. Our partners include Atlantic Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre Group, LAByrinth Theater Company, Latinx Playwrights Circle, Magic Theatre, MCC Theater, New Georges, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, The Playwrights Realm, The Public Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Soho Rep, WP Theater, and Yale Repertory Theatre. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.SOLPROJECT.ORG.

WP THEATER (Lisa McNulty, Producing Artistic Director; Michael Sag, Managing Director), now in its 45th Season, is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing, and promoting the work of Women+ at every stage of their careers. For over four decades, WP has served as leaders of a global movement towards gender parity - and the artists fostered have grown into a robust, thriving community in theater and beyond. WP empowers Women+ artists of all kinds to reach their full potential, challenging preconceptions about the kinds of plays they write and the stories they tell.

Founded in 1978 by Julia Miles, WP Theater has earned acclaim as a home for Women+ theatermakers, historically marginalized in the field, to hone their craft while becoming leaders, change-makers, and advocates in the industry. To date, the company has produced more than 700 Mainstage productions and developmental projects and published 11 anthologies of plays by Women+ artists, and continues to forge forward in making a difference in the artistic landscape of New York and beyond, by offering these artists a platform to develop and present their stories.

Today, WP accomplishes its mission through several fundamental programs, including: the WP Lab, a celebrated two-year mentorship and new play development program for Women+ playwrights, directors, and producers; the Space Program, providing inexpensive performance space to mission aligned small theater companies and individual artists; the Developmental series of workshops and readings; the Commissioning program, and the Mainstage series, which features a full season of Off-Broadway productions written and directed by extraordinary Women+ theater artists. Current artists under commission are: Donnetta Lavinia Grays, Emily Kaczmarek, MJ Kaufman, Sylvia Khoury, Zoe Sarnak, and Leah Nanako Winkler.

WP Theater received a 2018 Lucille Lortel Award and an 2019 Obie Award, both for Outstanding Body of Work; and a 2020 Special Drama Desk Award recognizing WP and its founder, Julia Miles. As the premier launching pad for some of the most influential artists in theater, television, and film, WP's work has a significant impact on the field. Nearly every notable female theater artist has been through its doors, including: 2019 Tony Winner Rachel Chavkin; two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner Lynn Nottage, 2018 Pulitzer Prize Winner Martyna Majok; MacArthur "Genius" Grant Winner & Tony Award Nominee Dominique Morisseau; Tony Winner Pam MacKinnon; and Tony Winner Diane Paulus. At WP, these powerful women found an early artistic home and are a testament to the organization's role as a driving cultural force.

*When we say Women+, we mean people who are cis women, trans, non-binary, or gender-nonconforming people, and all gender identities which have been systematically oppressed throughout history in the theater and beyond. www.wptheater.org

The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) is an arts service and advocacy organization dedicated to expanding the presence of Latin actors in US entertainment and media through their creative development, cultivation, education, and community empowerment in NYC. HOLA strives for an accurate, informed and non-stereotyped portrayal of the full spectrum of Latinx culture and heritage in all entertainment and media industries. Under the leadership of our current Executive Director, Pablo Andrade and Board of Directors Chair, Paul Slee Rodriguez, our organizational priorities are education, diversity and resource development. This is part of the vision to strengthen the company and support HOLA's staff to succeed in our mission.

HOLA was founded in 1975 by a group of Hispanic actors concerned with the images of Latinos in the media. Over the years, HOLA has functioned as a leading advocacy group in the industry and facilitated industry access to jobs, playing an instrumental role in increasing the percentage of Hispanic actors employed in the media from less than 1% in 1975 to 7.7% in film today (Hollywood Diversity Report 2022), 6.3% in TV, and 4.8% in NYC theater. However, this is still short of the percentage of Hispanics in the total U.S. population (now over 18.7%).

Organizers and volunteers collectively hold workshops and mentorships throughout the year to promote success in the community, as well as provide a resource for New York casting directors and agents by hosting a talent database. https://www.holaofficial.org/about-us/.

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