La Jolla Playhouse Reveals Projects for 2024 Latinx New Play Festival

La Jolla Playhouse has revealed the projects for the 2024 Latinx New Play Festival, taking place October 4 – 6 in the Rao and Padma Makineni Play Development Center, produced by Dr. Maria Patrice Amon, the Playhouse’s 2024/2025 Artist-in-Residence.
 
The projects will include I never asked for a gofundme, by Jayne Deely, MOTHER OF GOD, by Ricardo Pérez González, The Man in the Maze, by Oliver Mayer; and El Puente/The Bridge, by Sandra Ruiz.
 
The Latinx New Play Festival is a celebration of new theatrical work by Latinx playwrights from across the country. Originally launched in 2016 at San Diego Repertory Theatre, the festival expands the presence of Latinx stories and artists on the American stage and spotlights the broad range of today’s Latinx experience. More than 150 play submissions were received this year, from which these four scripts were selected to be rehearsed and developed at the Playhouse, culminating in a live public reading at the festival in October. The Latinx New Play Festival is free to attend and will include a robust schedule of in-person readings, panel discussions and other events. For more information and reservations, please visit LaJollaPlayhouse.org.
 
“This year’s Latinx New Play Festival showcases another terrific lineup of new plays by an incredible group of playwrights. It’s wonderful to partner with the Playhouse to develop these new works and collaborate with artists from across the country to bring their scripts to life,” said Amon.
 

Festival Projects

I never asked for a gofundme
By Jayne Deely
Friday, October 4 at 7pm
 
Millie has come back home to Mobile, AL for a prestigious fellowship she couldn’t pass up, bringing her Puerto Rican east coast born and raised partner, Avery, who is recovering from top surgery, with her. When quasi-aunt to Millie and righteous woman of God Teresa overhears Millie talking to a pharmacist and assumes Avery has breast cancer, she decides to save the day, even if she doesn't agree with their 'lifestyle.' Cue casseroles, care packages, and checkbooks – a gofundme to SAVE AVERY! I never asked for a gofundme is a new queer comedy about gender, family, and religion that asks what it means to be worthy of care.
 

MOTHER OF GOD

By Ricardo Pérez González
Saturday, October 5 at 3:00pm
 
Raising a teenage Jesus is hard enough, but when Holy Mary Mother of God decides to divorce the big G himself, all hell breaks loose. Literally. With the help of her fellow divinities Yemaya (the Yoruba goddess of the oceans) and Lilith (the woman created before Adam), María launches a custody battle that will shake the throne of heaven itself. A darkly comedic family drama, MOTHER OF GOD is the story of three women who defy the heavens to reclaim their power. But in the end, will María be able to wield that power without becoming a tyrant herself?
 

The Man in the Maze

By Oliver Mayer
Saturday, October 5 at 7:00pm
 
It's 1519, Hernán Cortes has landed in the Yucatán Peninsula, and what he needs most is a translator he can trust. Gonzo, a fellow Spaniard shipwrecked a decade earlier, who has made a life with the Maya, would be the perfect interpreter. But has he become more Mayan than Spanish? Can he be trusted to interpret the language of Conquest? Does he have a different idea for an intermixing of culture, race, and spirit – minus the sword? A play based on the precise historical moment when the American identity was truly up in the air.
 

El Puente/The Bridge

By Sandra Ruiz
Sunday, October 6 at 2:00pm
 
Denise returns to her family home unannounced for the 25th birthday of her little brother, Carlos. Her family is less than thrilled to see her. They haven’t seen her in over a year. She has missed a ton of Family Chisme while at the same time being the main character, behind her back of course, in her own family's chisme. Dad just wants to watch his soccer game in peace. Mom and her older sister, Angelica, are hoping for a quiet peaceful day. The family sits together to watch a Sunday morning soccer game while they each try to find their own peace.

To post a comment, you must register and login.