No Holds Barrio: How Ancient Texts Become Modern Stories

4002 Mesa Road,Irvine CA 92617

26 April, 2023

Description

Los Angeles Chicano Playwright Luis Alfaro talks about how he uses classical texts to explore new ways of telling stories today. Digging into myths and stories of the world theatre still make connections to the events and lives we are living today, and connecting us all to a larger humanity is the goal of the work Luis Alfaro is a Chicano playwright born and raised in downtown Los Angeles. He was most recently the Associate Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group at the Music Center of Los Angeles County. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern California. He has received fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, popularly known as a “genius grant”, awarded to people who have demonstrated expertise and exceptional creativity in their respective fields; United States Artists; Ford Foundation Art of Change; Joyce Foundation; Mellon Foundation and is the recipient of the PEN America/Laura Pels International Foundation Theater Award for a Master Dramatist. He was the inaugural Playwright-in-Residence for six seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (2013-2019); Playwright’s Ensemble at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre (2013-2020); Inaugural Latinx Playwrights at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (2021); and Ojai Playwrights Conference member since 2002. His plays include Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, Mojada and have been seen at regional theatres throughout the United States and Europe. His most recently play, The Travelers was presented at the Magic Theater in San Francisco. Luis spent two decades in the Los Angeles Poetry and Performance Art communities.