Performing the "Generic Latina": A Conversation with Teatro Luna

Teatro Luna, Chicago's first and only all-Latina theater ensemble, was founded by Tanya Saracho and Coya Paz in 2000. While working in the theater community, the two women recognized that their profession was at the forefront of a national shift in the perception and representation of Latinos/as. After the results of the 2000 U.S. Census declared Hispanics the largest ethnic minority in the country, the popularity of all things Latino resulted in the appropriation and commodification of Latino/a images. While the higher profile has brought national attention to many issues affecting Latinos/as, it has not necessarily meant more honest representation or less reliance on common stereotypes. Critics of contemporary media representation point to the lack of broad creative control and the low numbers of Latinos/as behind the camera, writing the scripts, and in the production office as one reason for the inadequacies of Latino/a images.

Teatro Luna was born in response to this void. Faced with the dual difficulties of finding roles for themselves that went beyond the maid, the nanny, and the prostitute and of finding Latina actresses to play the more-nuanced roles they were writing, Paz and Saracho established a theater ensemble where Latina women would write, direct, act, manage, and market their own work. Teatro Luna's shows, usually a series of vignettes, are developed within the ensemble and in workshop performances (Probaditas). This process creates a dialogue among the actresses, their audience, their theater community, and the broader world of arts and media.

Besides giving audiences a multi-faceted image of Latinas, Teatro Luna is committed to reaching out to the community. Since 2004, the company has offered opportunities for new and emerging playwrights to write, direct, and produce their own work in SÓLO Latinas (2005) and SÓLO Tú (2006). These collections of one-woman short plays showcase a wide range of Latina stories, often by nonprofessional actors, directors, or writers. Teatro Luna also takes all of their work on the road to high schools and universities for performances and residencies, extending their community outreach that begins in Chicago.

In their first production, Generic Latina (2001), the ensemble moves beyond the two-dimensional character they were repeatedly asked to play for other shows by emphasizing differences among Latinas and complicating the notion of a homogenous Latina identity. Dejame Contarte (2001), inspired by the 2000 census, addresses the everyday occurrences and particularities of Latinas' lives that cannot be quantified or tabulated. In The María Chronicles (2003), Teatro Luna focuses on the challenges faced by Latino/a actors and the stereotypes of Latinos/as in the media. Their most recent production, S-E-X-Oh! (2006), is a set of vignettes dealing with the politics of gender, family relationships, religion, and economy as related to the subject of sex. The company's newest project takes a new (male) perspective; the show Machos, currently in development, will put men's opinions of Latina women on the stage.

In this interview, conducted in June 2005, Paz and Saracho discuss their inspiration for founding the company, their vision for Teatro Luna, the tokenization of Latina performers in women's performance venues, the role of sisterhood in a Latina ensemble, and the true meaning of "macho."

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SOBEIRA LATORRE: We should start with a bit of the history and origins of Teatro Luna. What prompted you to form this company? What were some of your plans and expectations?

TANYA SARACHO: When Coya and I met, I was a stalker. I had done a reading of one of my plays, La Dueña, and I couldn't find Latina actresses here (in Chicago). They were here, but I didn't have access to that community.

COYA PAZ: You didn't have access because the producing theater company didn't have access. It is also about the way mainstream theater companies didn't feel like they needed to recruit Latino/a actors.

TANYA SARACHO:You could count the ones that were working all the time with two hands. Most of them were men...