Tanya Saracho News

Final Draft, a Cast & Crew Company, now in its 28thyear as the industry standard for screenwriting software, today announced the honorees for the 14thAnnual Final Draft Awards. Academy Award® winning screenwriter Callie Khouri will be presented the prestigious Hall of Fame Award for her prolific contribution to the art of screenwriting and devotion to writers and the writing community. This year's New Voice Award recipient for Film is writer-director Boots Riley whose critically-acclaimed debut feature Sorry To Bother You announced the arrival of Riley as an exciting, brave new voice in cinema. The New Voice Award for Television will be presented to Tanya Saracho, the dynamic creator and executive producer of the acclaimed Starz Original series Vida. Final Draft will also announce the winners of the prestigious 2018 Big Break® Screenwriting Contest. The 14thAnnual Final Draft Awards will be held at the Paramount Theatre on the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood, CA on Jan. 29th and will be hosted by comedy duo Randy and Jason Sklar (The Sklar Brothers).

Victory Gardens Theater announces Tanuja Jagernauth as the 2019 Marcelle McVay Management Fellow for 2019. Victory Gardens Next Generation Fellowships provide comprehensive mentorship, requisite training, and experience for these future leaders of color, preparing them to helm arts institutions or departments on the national and local level. The 2019 Macelle McVay Management Fellowship is made possible by support from the Weiss Grosshandler Charitable Fund.

New year, new Kilroys! For the past five years The Kilroys, an LA-based collective of playwrights/producers continuing the fight to achieve gender balance in the American theater, have been advocating for equal representation on our American stages, and have released an annual list of under-produced plays by women, trans, and non-binary writers. Despite some measurable progress, we still have a long way to go before we strike that balance. So, as we approach 2019, we are beyond thrilled to introduce a fresh new gang of fearless badass leaders. These women will seize our reins and continue the fight for equality, creating random acts of disruption along the way, while the OG Kilroys will serve as an advisory board supporting the current class. 

Victory Gardens Theater, with Actors Theatre of Louisville, to present the Co-World Premiere of How to Defend Yourself, written by Lily Padilla and directed by Marti Lyons. How to Defend Yourself will be presented at the 2019 Humana Festival of New American Plays (March 21 - April 7, 2019) and as part of the Victory Gardens Theater 2019/2020 Season (January 24 - February 23, 2020).

 FADE is a two person play that tackles some timely questions on balancing culture, success, and authenticity both in real life and in the La La Land known as Hollywood now playing at MOXIE Theatre through November 11th.

The Theatre Company at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is proud to announce playwrights, dates and details for the 2019 Colorado New Play Summit. The 14th annual festival will take place over two weekends, 2/16-2/17 and 2/22-2/24, and feature readings of new plays by Beaufield Berry, Isaac Gomez, Bonnie Metzgar, Tony Meneses, and a new musical by Neyla Pekarek and Karen Hartman. The festival will also feature World Premiere productions by Donnetta Lavinia Grays and Itamar Moses.

FADE at Seattle Public Theater is a quiet little show that's worth making a lot of noise about. The play by Tanya Saracho is both a witty and scathing examination of classism, racism, and sexism. An immigrant looks to climb the corporate ladder in Hollywood, but the price of success may be more than she bargained for. Identity, heritage, and friendship are all tokens of negotiation.

In a unique addition to its upcoming 2018/2019 Season, Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) will present the U.S. premiere of Mendoza by Los Colochos of Mexico City-the latest in a 30-year history of premiering works by prominent local, national and international Latino playwrights and theater companies. Mendoza is presented as part of Destinos-the 2nd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, a seven-week festival of Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America in shows, panels and student performances at venues citywide. A radically reimagined adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Mendoza is a tale of ambition, blood and power by Antonio Zuñiga and Juan Carrillo, directed by Carrillo and presented in Spanish with English supertitles. The limited engagement of Mendoza appears October 2-7, 2018 at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($25-32; subject to change) go on sale Friday, August 24 by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/Mendoza.

Victory Gardens Theater hosts writer Dan Kois for special discussion and signing of his book The World Only Spins Forward: The Ascent of Angels in America. Kois will be joined on stage by Chicago actors and writers for a reading of excerpts from the book. This one-night-only event will be held on Monday, October 1 at 7:00pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

Seattle Public Theater opens its 2018/19 Season #CONFRONTINGAMERICA with Tanya Saracho's witty, true-to-life comedy FADE. In FADE, Mexican-born television writer Lucia is hired to work for a ruthless Hollywood studio. She soon discovers that the studio's Mexican-American custodian, Abel, has a windfall of plot ideas -- but as their friendship grows, his stories begin to blur with hers, leading to unexpected consequences.

As part of INGENIO Milagro, the program to develop Latino playwrights and plays in order to add more Latino voices to the American theatre cannon, two local Portland playwrights were selected to take part in NWTW's one-year playwriting program. The program consists of two workshops: Create: Writing the Script -9 month Intensive and Create: Summer Intensive. The goal is to complete a draft of a play, or a rewrite of a draft of a play, during this time period. The resulting work will be highlighted in INGENIO Milagro 2019.

Victory Gardens Theater continues its 44th season with the World Premiere of Rightlynd, written by Ike Holter and directed by Lisa Portes. Rightlynd runs November 9 - December 23, 2018, with press performances on Saturday, November 17, 2018 at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 18, 2018 at 3:00pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

In a unique addition to its upcoming 2018/2019 Season, Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) will present the U.S. premiere of Mendoza by Los Colochos of Mexico City-the latest in a 30-year history of premiering works by prominent local, national and international Latino playwrights and theater companies. Mendoza is presented as part of Destinos-the 2nd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, a seven-week festival of Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America in shows, panels and student performances at venues citywide. A radically reimagined adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Mendoza is a tale of ambition, blood and power by Antonio Zuñiga and Juan Carrillo, directed by Carrillo and presented in Spanish with English supertitles. The limited engagement of Mendoza appears October 2-7, 2018 at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($25-32; subject to change) go on sale Friday, August 24 by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/Mendoza.

Five-time Obie Award-winning theater company Clubbed Thumb (Maria Striar, Producing Artistic Director; Michael Bulger, Associate Artistic Director) is proud to announce upcoming developmental projects and opportunities for Fall 2018.

Victory Gardens Theater Artistic Director Chay Yew and Managing Director Erica Daniels announce the 2018/19 Season Directors Inclusion Initiates, to include Lauren Katz (Indecent), Mikael Burke (Rightlynd), N. Emil Thomas (Pipeline), Denise Yvette Serna (Cambodian Rock Band) and Ruby Des Jardins (Miriam for President).

Primary Stages (Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Shane D. Hudson, Executive Director; Casey Childs, Founder) is proud to announce complete casting today for the first two productions of their 2018/19 season: Final Follies, by A.R. Gurney (Love Letters, Sylvia, Black Tie at Primary Stages) and directed by David Saint (Clever Little Lies), and Downstairs by Theresa Rebeck ("Smash," Dead Accounts, Poor Behavior at Primary Stages), directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt (What We're Up Against). All performances will take place at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce St, New York, NY, 10014).

Starz Announces Casting for VIDA Season Two and Drops New Official Trailer for WARRIORS OF LIBERTY CITY

Victory Gardens Theater Artistic Director Chay Yew, Managing Director Erica Daniels and Director of New Play Development Skyler Gray announce the lineup for the 10th Anniversary IGNITION Festival of New Plays, including Prosthesis by Robert Askins; Untitled Road Trip Play by Lauren Yee; White History by Dave Harris; How to Defend Yourself by Lily Padilla; Seeing Eye by Nick Malakhow; and The First Deep Breath by Lee Edward Colston II. The 2018 Festival runs August 3 -5, 2018 at Victory Gardens Theater, located at 2433 N Lincoln Avenue.

Victory Gardens Theater presents Town Hall: Reunite!, an event where Chicago artists will respond to the current immigration policies of the United States. Town Hall: Reunite! will be held at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue on Wednesday, July 18 at 7 pm. This event is FREE and open to the public.

Victory Gardens Theater announces the lineup for the 10th Anniversary IGNITION Festival of New Plays, including Prosthesis by Robert Askins; Untitled Road Trip Play byLauren Yee; White History by Dave Harris; How to Defend Yourself by Lily Padilla; Seeing Eye by Nick Malakhow; and The First Deep Breath by Lee Edward Colston II. The 2018 Festival runs August 3 -5, 2018 at Victory Gardens Theater, located at 2433 N Lincoln Avenue.