Latinos in the fine arts: Part Two

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

In Part One I say that in a perfect world minorities would have as much access to the fine arts – and the training to participate in them – as the average Caucasian.

Also covered was the contrast between fine arts organizations who attract or educate Latino audiences by changing their product for that specific viewership, and those who simply strive for inclusion and authenticity by using what few Hispanic artists there are in mainstream productions for core audiences.

Today I tell you about a third way which blends a little bit of both. Welcome to Chicago Dramatists' Many Voices Project.

Perhaps it's because this small, 29-year-old organization – "The Playwright's Theater" – labors in the shadow of the larger theater companies in Chicago that it has more latitude to move beyond the standard formula of interacting with minority communities strictly by "outreaching" their performances to the "community's underserved."

For the third year in a row C-D, which devotes itself solely to developing new plays and nurturing playwrights, is finding the best and brightest minority voices and prepping them to step onto bigger stages across the country by holding a national competition to find cutting-edge playwrights who just happen to not be white. They announced a final winner this morning.

Alfonso Ramirez, a 54-year-old New York City by-way-of Steamboat Springs, Colorado resident, made the final cut with a historical play inspired by a Diego Rivera mural called "La Maestra Rural." It follows Luz Jimenez, an idealistic teacher sent into the interior of Mexico by the newly-installed government to educate the peasants and help them re-possess the lands the government had promised them. The peasants embrace her, of course, but she encounters opposition to her altruistic work by a rich landowner. The hilarity ensues. Well, you know what I mean.

"It's all about the process," Alfonso told me the afternoon before his live performance – a staged reading directed and played out by actors – which you must understand is a rare, rare experience for few non-superstar playwrights. "There was a first table read then a rehearsal then constant rewriting. When I heard the play I started trimming and clarifying some of the questions the actors had. There's a feedback session where the audience tell us what they like and didn’t like so I am able to take those questions and answer them too."

Alfonso is eating this up because as a playwright of color trying to sell a complex story about bridging cultures, this opportunity lets him work more than just his craft.

Like me, Alfonso didn't speak any English when he started kindergarden and has always felt torn between the two cultures he lives in.

"My play kinda deals a little bit with the dawning of a new era and with trying to move ahead while straddling two worlds," he said. "I feel like I'm always forced to defend immigrants, I have to defend welfare parents – my mom was one when I went to school…at one time I changed my name because I was embarrassed of it. Our language –

we were made to feel like it was an encumbrance, a hindrance, though I know I did better on my SAT's because I knew a Latin-based language."

Alfonso's is just one incredible story out of four phenomenal writers in this competition.

"We develop new plays and provide the playwrights with connections to other theaters in the city," said Ilesa Duncan, Director of Youth and Community Programming who said other large theaters are invited to participate in the readings and get connected to the artists themselves. "If we're not the only, then we're the first [to do this], there are larger companies doing this but this is our third competition."

"If you're looking at who America is, you're looking at a diverse country," Ilesa said. "It's made up of all cultures and backgrounds and we need to be reflecting that in the major institutions in the country. There's an imbalance, [arts organizations aren't] reflecting the populations of the country, especially in the major cities."

Alfonso has seen few opportunities for staging "Latino plays," and though he did not "win" per se – that distinction goes to Los Angeles playwright Michael Golamco – he's awed by all he's learned.

"I feel like I really found a home. To me [the competition] became secondary," he said afterwards. "I wrote so much in these last two weeks, for me it was all about the collaborative process, to get a director… it’s a whole experience. You can't put a price on what I learned."

Esther J. Cepeda writes the "600 Words" & "Pregunta del Dia" columns, and is also the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Her views and reporting do not necessarily reflect those of ISAC. "600 words" is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact

eejaycee@600words.com

Comments

[Diana Pando]

Hey lady thanks for letting folks know about the wonderful work the Chicago Dramatist does to engage new and diverse voices.

[Steve Porras]

Thanks, ejc, for reminding us of the value of diversity in every aspect of life, including the arts, and for shedding a little extra light on the Many Voices Project. Nice story.