Decolonization Stories New Plays Festival at La Lengua Teatro

Four commissioned short plays about decolonization will be presented as a result of a residency with playwrights from all over the Americas.

Last year La Lengua Teatro put out an open call for submissions for a playwriting residency in collaboration with AlterTheater, called Historias de Descolonización/Decolonization Stories. With the chosen applicants, the 2022 cohort was formed. They were entrusted with the commission of short plays in various languages (Spanish, English, Spanglish, and Native languages) about the impact that colonization still has on our communities and how to deconstruct it.

These pieces will be presented in public for the first time as stage readings in a one-day festival at the Brava theater's Cabaret (San Francisco) on Saturday, November 5.

We'll also have Q&A with the playwright residents, guest artists performing and a panel about decolonization and decentralization of English in the arts, and language justice.

A whole afternoon* of theater, community, and conversation. Come to be a part of this festival supporting with your attendance to the creation of new spaces for stories like these!

(*)There will be a 45min intermission and short breaks in between performances to get in and out of the theater as needed.

Commissioned Plays:

• PARADISE by Tere Martinez (Spanglish, Puerto Rico) Dir: Sam Prince. Feat: Jennie E. Rodriguez, Dyana Diaz, Garret Ryan.
• LA BOLIVIANA by Chana Mamani (Spanish, Argentina) Dir: Elena Ester. Feat: Katherine Benitez, Deborah Cortez, Francisco Rodriguez.
• Ayóóánííníshní (I LOVE YOU IN DINÉ) by Blossom Johnson (Diné, United States) Dir: Kim Gleason. Feat: Noralynn James, Owee Rae, Ethan Becenti.
• SCHOOLBOY, OR, The Secret of Social Studies on a Stolen Land by Cris Eli Blak (English, United States) Dir: Ed Gonzalez Moreno. Feat: Gabriel Cortez, Linda Maria Giron, Maga Rincon.

Guest artists: Genesis Ulloa, Liliana Herrera, Gina Madrid.

Panel: Aimee Suzara, Jeanette Harrison, Kim Gleason, Liliana Herrera, Mariela Talavera Ballon.

Host: Chelis Lopez.