San Diego REP & Amigos Del REP Announce The Second Annual Latinx New Play Festival

San Diego Repertory Theatre and Amigos del REP announced today the lineup for The Second Annual Latinx New Play Festival at the Lyceum Space Theatre, August 3-5, 2018. Amigos del REP is a theatre advocacy council of community members and artists who promote Hispanic/Latino/Chicano theatre at San Diego REP. The Latinx New Play Festival is a celebration of engaging, dynamic and enlightening new plays by Latinx playwrights from across the United States. Submissions were accepted from Latinx playwrights representing an array of genres, styles and experiences highlighted by both emerging and veteran playwrights.

"San Diego REP has long been a leader in championing Latinx stories, having produced more than 50 productions of work by Latinx writers since 1988," stated Sam Woodhouse, Artistic Director of San Diego Repertory Theatre. "Our Latinx New Play Festival, proud to be on stage for the second year, is a major step forward in our commitment to develop and showcase new plays by Latinx writers. We look forward to sharing the innovative work of five Latinx playwrights in August."

The selection process was highly competitive with only four plays out of 112 submissions chosen for the festival. While there were numerous new plays worthy to be named to the festival's roster, the selection committee based its decision on works that most closely support San Diego Repertory Theatre's mission to generate and sustain a more inclusive community through artistic endeavors that further progressive political and social values and celebrate the multiple voices of the region.

"The plays selected for the festival represent some of the most exciting scripts currently being written in the U.S. today, stated Patrice Amon, San Diego REP's National New Play Network Producer-in-Residence. "The festival readings will feature stories that demonstrate the breadth of Latinidad. We will be sharing stories about gender humor, class, Afro-Latinx perspectives and LGBT communities."

Below is the schedule of the 2018 Latinx New Play Festival including the four staged readings and the festival showcase production of WET: A DACAmented Journey.

• Friday, August 3

Bad Hombres/Good Wives, written By Herbert Siguenza

7:30pm

Opening reception: 7:00pm.

• Saturday, August 4

The Book of Leonidas, written by Augusto Amador

1:00pm.

Bees and Honey, written by Guadalís del Carmen

3:00pm.

--Dinner Break: 5:00-7:00pm

--VIP Festival Pass Reception: 6:30pm

Festival showcase production of WET: A DACAmented Journey

7:00pm.

• Sunday, August 5

Azul, written by Christina Quintana

1:00pm

Closing reception: 3:00pm.

Bad Hombres/Good Wives Summary:

A Latin farce set in 1995 in Sinaloa. Don Ernesto, a powerful cartel lord has hidden away a young woman, Eva, in a convent to be trained to be the perfect wife. Eva has come of age and is handed over to Don Ernesto and his deaf housekeeper Armida. However, Eva first meets a handsome young man for whom she quickly falls, but that young man turns out to be the son of Don Ernesto's recently murdered rival. The young man mistakenly reveals his plans to rescue Eva to Don Ernesto. Ernesto sends a pair of bumbling hitmen to kill the young man, but the young man's Banda singing mother stops them and catches Ernesto when he goes to do the job himself. Ernesto falls for the singer freeing Eva and the young man to marry.

Herbert Siguenza (Playwright):

Herbert Siguenza is a founding member of Culture Clash. He is the Playwright-in-Residence at San Diego Repertory Theatre through a generous grant with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. He has written and starred in the following plays: Cantinflas!, Private Eddie USA, A Weekend with Pablo Picasso, El Henry (Winner of a San Diego Critics Circle award for Best Play, 2014), Steal Heaven and Manifest Destinitis. The REP recently closed its 42nd season with Beachtown, an immersive and interactive play he co-wrote with Rachel Grossman of dog & pony dc. He is currently developing his first musical called Birth Day and an adaptation of Moliere's School for Wives called Bad Hombres/Good Wives. Herbert also performed the voices of the twin uncles in Pixar's Oscar-winning Best Animation COCO.

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The Book of Leonidas Summary:

Lenny is a Dominican-American hustler selling loosies (a cigarette sold individually) on the same street corner in Queens that his father, Leonidas, used to rule over as legendary crime lord in the 1970s. From his loosie profits he supports and lives with his repressive mother who derides him for not living up to Leonidas' criminal legacy. Lenny finds an escape while working on his graphic novels until he stumbles into love with a pretty white girl, Lindsey. As their relationship deepens, the pressure of who he wants to be and who he was meant to be, careen toward a final conclusion.

Augusto Amador (Playwright):

The Book of Leonidas was developed through the Latino Theater Alliance/L.A. Playwright's Nest. Last year the play had a staged reading at the Cherry Lane Theater in NYC where it was awarded best play as part of the Downtown Urban Arts Festival. Other playwriting fellowships include The Public Theater in NYC and the Humanitas Prize in Los Angeles. Mr. Amador was recently awarded a playwriting grant from the Lincoln City Fellowship from the Speranza Foundation in NYC for his upcoming play, The Sunset Room.

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Bees and Honey Summary:

Bees and Honey is the unraveling of a love story. Manuel and Johaira have been together for almost a decade. Meeting when young and at pivotal moments in their lives, they fell in love and got married. Although both were raised in the "'hood," each had different perspectives on how their experiences affected their choices. Johaira, a smart young lawyer from a working-class immigrant family has always been an independent spirit that gets things done. Manuel is an entrepreneur on the rise with a mechanic shop that is on the cusp of expansion. Both have ambitions and dreams that they hope to achieve together. However, the funny thing about life is that as much as you make plans, life finds ways to change them. Johaira lands a career-defining case that rocks her confidence and has her questioning her husband's will to adopt a more feminist way of thinking. Manuel's business is flourishing and growing, but when his mother falls ill he has little choice but to care for her, adding more tension to things at home. When tragedy strikes, their love for each other is tested.

Guadalís Del Carmen (Playwright):

Currently based in NYC, Guadalís Del Carmen was born and raised in Chicago. Her first play, Blowout, was produced by Aguijón Theater in 2013. In 2014, she was one of eight early career playwrights to be chosen to form El Semillero, a playwright writing group curated by ALTA (Alliance of Latino Theater Artists) in residency at Victory Gardens Theater. My Father's Keeper was developed through El Semillero, is a semi-finalist in Quick Silver Theater Company's 2018 Playwrights of Color Summit and a finalist in Latino Theater Commons Carnaval 2018.

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Azul Summary:

Azul is a memory play that traces three generations in two movements. When Zelia, a lifelong New Yorker, faces the loss of her Cuban-born mother, Yadra, and her own sense of identity in the process, she digs into her legacy and uncovers the story of her mother's beloved aunt. While the family fled Cuba at the time of Castro's revolution, their tia abuela remained on the island for the love of another woman.

Christina Quintana (Playwright):

Christina Quintana (CQ) is a New York-based writer with Cuban and Louisiana roots. Azul will have its world premiere at Southern Rep Theatre in March 2019. The play was a selection on the 2017 Kilroys List and an honorable mention for the 2018 Leah Ryan FEWW Prize and the 2017 Arch Bruce Brown Playwriting Competition. Other plays include Scissoring (INTAR), Evensong (Astoria Performing Arts Center), The Great Lonely Roamer & The Night That Changed Everything (NYU Voices Festival), Citizen Scientist (EST/Sloan Commission) and Enter Your Sleep (Yale Cabaret). She is the recipient of fellowships from Playwrights Realm, Van Lier New Voices at the Lark, CubaOne, Queer/Art, and Lambda Literary, a proud member of Youngblood, EST's cohort of emerging playwrights, and a graduate of the MFA Playwriting program at Columbia University. For more information, visit cquintana.com.

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--SHOWCASE PRODUCTION--

WET: A DACAmented Journey

The 2018 Latinx New Play Festival will feature a festival showcase production of WET: A DACAmented Journey by Alex Alpharaoh, who was featured on the cover of American Theatre Magazine, May/June 2018 issue.

Synopsis: WET: A DACAmented Journey is the story of what it means to be an American in every sense of the word except for one: On paper. The play chronicles the story of Anner Cividanis' Journey of living his whole life in the United States as an undocumented American. The play captures the desperation that Dreamers feel when considering the very limited options of adjustment of status by being forced to navigate through a broken U.S. Immigration System. The play examines the mental, emotional and psychological hardship one man has to endure to secure his livelihood in the only home he has known: Los Angeles.

WET: A DACAmented Journey is written and performed by Alex Alpharaoh, directed by Kevin Comartin and produced by Liz Ross. The play was originally developed as part of the True Story program at Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA.

Alex Alpharaoh (Playwright) is an award-winning stage and film actor, writer, director, producer, spoken word artist, solo performer and teaching artist from Los Angeles. He has performed in various venues and open mics throughout Los Angeles including Da Poetry Lounge, Sunday Jump, Washington D.C.'s Busboys and Poets and New York's renowned Nuyorican Cafe. As a teaching artist, Alpharaoh teaches a highly popular Fundamentals of Spoken Word and Performance Poetry class advising individuals how to connect with their deeper selves using their words and expressions as a form of healing.

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