Bridging the Américas through Theatre: The Latinx Theatre Commons International Convening at Encuentro de las Américas

The Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC)¹ convened at the Los Angeles Theatre Center's Encuentro de las Américas November 9-12, 2017. Established in 2012, the LTC "joins theatre artists, scholars, and students both virtually and in-person through an effective, volunteer-basis model that creates opportunities for theatre practitioners of all ages, races, and gender identities, while advancing the state of Latinx theatre in the United States" (Marrero). In partnership with HowlRound, the goals are "to transform the narrative of the American theatre, to amplify the visibility of Latina/o/x performance making, and to champion equity through advocacy, art making, convening, and scholarship" ("Latinx Theatre Commons"). In addition to the Los Angeles International Convening, the LTC's initiatives include the online journal Café Onda, El Fuego, Anti-Racist Training, in addition to having hosted in-person regional gatherings in Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, and New York City. According to theatre scholars Maria Enriquez and Christopher Goodson, these initiatives "create a mobile, collaborative network that illuminates, challenges, and redefines American theatre through the presence of an active Latinx theatre collective." Given these premises and that many scholars, such as Teresa Marrero, understand the LTC as "the most important movement of the new millennium." It provides a national presence to the Latinx theatre movement, which largely had been without a cohesive organized structure since TENAZ (Teatro Nacional de Aztlán) shuttered in the early 1990s. In what follows, I propose to shed light on the Latinx Theatre Commons International Convening at Encuentro 2017 by asking: How does the LTC build community? How can building community lead to widespread change in the American Theatre? And, is it possible to create and sustain a community-focused theatre movement across national borders?

"Encuentro" is the Spanish word for an encounter, a meeting, or a conference. Notably, the festival staged an encounter between Latinx theatre artists in the United States and artists from across the Américas. The values of the 2017 Encuentro were to promote the following: cross-cultural collaboration, exchange of methodologies, openness to risk, and inclusive dialogue. These values not only informed how the selection committee chose the participating productions, but also guided the various conversations that occurred throughout the convening weekend. In addition to productions by seven US-based Latinx theatre companies, artists from Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Peru were in residence at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) for three weeks.² Productions in the 2017 Encuentro de las Américas included:

• • 10 Millones, Argos Teatro—Havana, Cuba

• • Broken Tailbone, Nightswimming & Carmen Aguirre—Toronto, Canada

• • Conjunto Blues, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center—San Antonio, TX

• • Deferred Action, Cara Mía Theatre Co.—Dallas, TX

• • Dementia, Latino Theater Company—Los Angeles, CA

• • El Apagón/The Blackout, Pregones—The Bronx, NY

• • Las Mariposas Saltan al Vacio, Compañía Nacional de las Artes—Bogotá, Colombia

• • La Razón Blindada, 24th Street Theatre—Los Angeles, CA

• • Latin Standards, Marga Gomez—San Francisco, CA

• • Miss Julia, Vueltas Bravas—Bogotá, Colombia

• • Quemar las Naves: El Viaje de Emma, Organización Secreta Teatro—Mexico City, Mexico

• • Ropa Íntima, Ébano Teatro—Lima, Peru

• • This is Culture Clash, Culture Clash—Los Angeles, CA

• • Wet, Alex Alpharaoh—Los Angeles, CA

These productions ran in repertory in five spaces at the LATC for three weeks, with the middle weekend seeing the 2017 LTC International Convening bring over 150 artists and scholars to Los Angeles not only to see the work, but more importantly to discuss aesthetics and the possibilities of cross-cultural collaboration. During the Convening weekend, the LTC engaged participants in guided conversations about aesthetics both in the United States and abroad, themed panels and roundtables, opportunities for relationship building and networking, group meals, and post-show parties.

Encuentro 2017 marked the first meaningful effort by the LTC to build bridges between US-based Latinx and Latin American theatre artists. After national and regional convenings in Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, and New York City, the moment was ripe to facilitate a dialogue between artists in the United...