La Jolla Playhouse to Present 2025 Latinx New Play Festival

La Jolla Playhouse will present the eighth Latinx New Play Festival, running November 21 – 23, co-produced with TuYo Theatre and curated by TuYo Co-Artistic Director Dr. Maria Patrice Amon.

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 November.

The 2025 Latinx New Play Festival projects include Ama. Egg. Oyá., by Lori Felipe-Barkin; NOVIOS, by Arturo Luíz Soria; Our Lady of the San Diego Convention Center, by Mario Vega; and Tempt Me, by Andrew Rincón.

“This year’s Latinx New Play Festival once again showcases a terrific lineup of new plays by an incredibly talented group of playwrights. TuYo is thrilled 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.

The Latinx New Play Festival is free to attend and will include a robust schedule of readings, panel discussions and other events. For more information, please visit lajollaplayhouse.org.

La Jolla Playhouse is a place where artists and audiences come together to create what’s new and next in the American theatre, from Tony Award-winning productions, to imaginative programs for young audiences, to interactive experiences outside our theatre walls. Founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, the Playhouse is currently led by Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse, and Managing Director Debby Buchholz. The Playhouse is internationally renowned for the development of new plays and musicals, including mounting 120 world premieres, commissioning 70 new works, and sending 37 productions to Broadway, garnering a total of 42 Tony Awards, as well as the 1993 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.

TuYo Theatre is a professional Latinx Theatre committed to creating and producing theatre in the San Diego area that tells stories from and by diverse Latinx perspectives. TuYo is committed to professional artistic rigor, forging authentic connections, developing community artists, and furthering the discourses that affect our community.

Latinx New Play Festival Projects

NOVIOS

By Arturo Luíz Soria

Friday, November 21 at 7pm

A motley crew of cooks hurls insults, grab ass, and compete to be the most macho en el calor of a gringo’s failing kitchen, all under the thumb of Chef Gallo. When a flamboyant new dishwasher sparks an affair with Luiz, Gallo’s ward, the cooks’ banter turns deadly. Gallo must wrangle the men to keep the restaurant open while wrestling with her own demons that threaten to push Luiz away forever. 

Tempt Me

By Andrew Rincón 

Saturday, November 22 at 3pm

God starts the world with light. But then the Devil (call him Lucy) suddenly appears on stage. He speaks into a microphone and asks the audience to imagine the stage as a familiar Garden. But things seem strange in Paradise. There’s a lonely lisping Animal, inventing Dance. Eve is overworked and facing a crisis. Adam’s a hot idiot. And when a mysterious woman sneaks her way into the Garden, Lucy finds himself taking the audience on a metatheatrical journey that twists narratives of good and evil. 

Ama. Egg. Oyá

By Lori Felipe-Barkin

Saturday, November 22 at 7pm

A papaya falls from between Ama’s legs and breaks into pieces…Shit! She’s miscarrying again. Ama. Egg. Oyá. is about Ama, a woman from Hialeah, Florida, hell-bent on having a child. It's no wonder she feels an affinity towards Oyá, a barren African Orisha. As told through a series of fables, this bilingual play blends modern-day Miami and Cuban beats with Santería to examine infertility, motherhood, and maternal ambivalence.

Our Lady of the San Diego Convention Center

By Mario Vega

Sunday, November 23 at 2pm

Lulu and Milli are hired to work as youth care workers at the San Diego Convention Center, which is being used as a shelter for young migrant girls. As time passes, Lulu and Milli are tested by the changing rules and restrictions at their job. This new play is written by San Diego local, Mario Vega, a graduate of San Diego State University, and the playwright and book writer for Pásale Pásale featured at La Jolla Playhouse’s 2024 WOW Festival. 

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