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theatre archives; Latino Shakespeare; Bilingual Shakespeare; Spanish Shakespeare; Hispanic Shakespeare; Latinx Shakespeare

latinx theatrical adaptation, latinx plays, shakespeare productions and adaptations, latinx Shakespeares, productions and adaptations of Shakespeare's, latinx theatrical adaptations, latin american plays, latinx theatre adaptation

2024 Awards for Latinx Shakespeares:

Finalist - Barnard Hewitt Award: Latinx Shakespeares: Staging U.S. Intracultural Theater, for Outstanding Research in Theatre History, American Society for Theatre Research

Finalist - George Freedley Memorial Award: Latinx Shakespeares: Staging U.S. Intracultural Theater, for an exemplary work in the field of live theatre or performance, Theatre Library Association 

Silver Medal - Best Website: LatinxShakespeares.Org, International Latino Book Awards

Honorable Mention - Best Academic Book, College Level – English: Latinx Shakespeares: Staging U.S. Intracultural Theater, International Latino Book Awards

Welcome to the first online archive of Latinx theatrical adaptation.

LatinxShakespeares.Org is an archive that includes reviews and ephemera from over 200 Latinx-authored and/or Latinx-themed Shakespearean productions and adaptations and over 100 Latinx-authored and/or Latinx-themed adaptations of other western classics staged in the United States over the last seventy-five years. 

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This archive is intended for artists and researchers, and anyone who is interested in theatre history and art-making.

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The archive was built, created, and is run by Carla Della Gatta, PhD, a theatre historian and performance theorist who has researched the intersections of Shakespeare and Latinidad since 2010. She works with theaters and artists on staging ethnic and bilingual classical theatre.

latinx theatrical adaptation, latinx plays, shakespearean productions and adaptations, latinx Shakespeares, productions and adaptations of Shakespeare's, latinx theatrical adaptations, latin american plays, latinx theatre adaptation
International Latino Book Awards Academic

Recent, Current, & Upcoming Shows

Romeo + Juliet

(dir. Raymond O. Caldwell)

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Folger Theatre (Washington, DC)

October 1 - November 10, 2024

Caldwell sets the action in contemporary Washington, DC, with Romeo and Juliet as the children of politicians. The cast and characters reflect a diverse world, including the Capulet women who are Puerto Rican. The Spanish dialogue is supratitled in English.

Folger Romeo + Juliet, Raymond O. Caldwell, Caro Reyes Rivera, Cole Taylor
Ainadamar, Lorca opera, Osvaldo Golijov Lorca

Ainadamar  by Osvaldo Golijov

Libretto by: David Henry Hwang

Conducted by: Miguel Harth-Bedoya

(director and choreographer Deborah Colker)

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The Metropolitan Opera (New York, NY)

October 15- November 9, 2024

"Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov’s first opera dramatizes the life and work of poet-playwright Federico García Lorca. . . Combining features of both an opera and a passion, Ainadamar, [includes] the energy and rhythms of flamenco and rumba, as well as the violent backdrop of civil war."

El Quijote  by Cervantes

Adapted by: Santiago García

(dir. Jorge Alí Triana)

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Repertorio Español (New York, NY)

October 22, November 7, December 3, December 17

 

Running for over 16 years in repertory, this classic is a hallmark of Repertorio Español. It is performed in Spanish with English translations available.

El Quijote Repertorio Español, Santiago García, Jorge Alí Triana
La Vida Es Sueño, Liane Scirmer, Bilingual Foundation of the Arts

La Vida Es Sueño  by Pedro Calderón de la Barca

(dir. Liane Schirmer)

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Latino Theater Company (Los Angeles, CA)

October 26 - November 10, 2024

This is part of the Encuentro 2024: We Are Here – Presente! festival

This version of Calderón's classic was developed and devised by The Bilingual Foundation of Arts in Los Angeles.

Antigona 3.0 by Marc Pinate, Malita Ortiz, Jonathan Heras, Jesus I. Valles, Adam Cooper-Terán

(dir. Marc Pinate & Roweena Mackay)

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Latino Theater Company (Los Angeles, CA)

October 27 - November 9, 2024

This is part of the Encuentro 2024: We Are Here – Presente! festival

The play is set in an "alternate universe, where the actors play a heightened characterization of themselves. . . [and] they've received the biggest funding of their career." The play had its first reading in 2023 at Borderlands Theater in Tuscon.

Antigona 3.0, Marc Pinate, Borderlands Theater Company
Carlota: Alhajero de Secretos, Teatro Alebrijes, Rodrigo Garcia

Carlota: Alhajero de Secretos  by Rodrigo Garcia and Ugho Badu

(dir. Rodrigo Garcia)

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Latino Theater Company (Los Angeles, CA)

October 27 - November 9, 2024

This is part of the Encuentro 2024: We Are Here – Presente! festival

Inspired by Federico García Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba,  Developed and devised by Teatro Alebrijes, in San José, CA, it was first produced in 2016. Performed in Spanish.

Love is the Greater Labyrinth by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

Translated by: Diversifying the Classics

(dir. Anna Rebek)

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University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA)

November 8 - 16, 2024

Sor Juana's play is a Spanish comedia based on the legends of Theseus and the Minotaur. It is newly-translated into English by the Diversifying the Classics working group based at UCLA.

Love is the Greater Labyrinth, Anna Rebek, Diversifying the Classics

CJ, an Aspanglish Play  by Mercedes Floresislas

(dir. TBA)

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Ophelia's Jump (Upland, CA)

November 29 - December 22, 2024

World Premiere

This play reimagines A Christmas Carol as a Latina coming-of-age story. CJ goes to stay with her aunt and her Deaf grandmother, but she speaks little Spanish and no ASL. The Aztec deities visit and teach CJ about her Mexican heritage and her grandmother's experience growing up as a Deaf Latina.

Ophelia's Jump, CJ an Aspanglish Play, Mercedes Floresislas, bilingual theatre, A Christmas Carol
Isaac Gómez, The Night Shift Before Christmas, KJ Sanchez

The Night Shift Before Christmas  by Isaac Gómez

(dir. KJ Sanchez)

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Alley Theatre (Houston, TX)

December 5 - 24, 2024

With elements inspired by Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Gómez's play is a comedy set in the present day.

The Real James Bond... Was Dominican by Christopher Rivas

(dir. Daniel Banks)

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City Theatre Company (Pittsburgh, PA)

January 18 - February 16, 2025

Rivas' one-man coming of age story is inspired by discovering that "Bond creator Ian Fleming drew upon the life of Porfirio Rubirosa—a Dominican diplomat."  It includes "a live percussion score and immersive projections." 

The Real James Bond... Was Dominican by Christopher Rivas
Karen Zacarías Shane, Dallas Theater Center

Shane  by Karen Zacarías

(dir. Blake Robison)

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Dallas Theater Center (Dallas, TX)

January 31 - February 23, 2025

Karen Zacarías reimagined Jack Schaefer's 1949 novel, Shane, (made into a film in 1953). Zacarías created a new version of this Old West mythology, with "the Starretts as a Latino family and Shane as the son of a Cuban slave." The play premiered at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in 2023.

The Age of Innocence  by Karen Zacarías

(dir. Hana S. Sharif)

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Arena Stage (Washington, DC)

February 28 - March 30, 2025

Karen Zacarías re-imagined Edith Wharton's novel for the stage. 

The Age of Innocence by Karen Zacarías, Arena Stage
Teatro La Plaza Hamlet, Chicago Shakespeare Hamlet, CST Hamlet Spanish, Peruvian Hamlet

Hamlet  by Chela De Ferrari

(dir. Chela De Ferrari)

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Presented in partnership with the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA)

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Chicago, IL)

March 13 - 23, 2025

Teatro La Plaza from Lima, Peru, brings their Hamlet to CST.

"Blending Shakespeare’s text with personal anecdotes from their lives, a group of young performers with Down syndrome take the stage in a lively and profound theatrical experience." Performed in Spanish with English surtitles.

Cinderella: A Salsa Fairytale 

Book and Lyrics by Karen Zacarías

Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma

(dir. Vanessa Severo)

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The Coterie Theatre (Kansas City, MO)

March 19 - May 4, 2025

This bilingual musical show for children includes Cinderella, who comes from Puerto Rico to the mainland United States to visit her "stepsister" Rosa.

Cinderella a Salsa Fairytale, Coterie  Theatre, Karen Zacarías
La Tempestad, Trinity Rep, Orlando Hernández, Tatyana-Marie Carlo

La Tempestad by Orlando Hernández, with Tatyana-Marie Carlo and Leandro "Kufa" Castro

(dir. Christie Vela)

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Trinity Rep (Providence, RI)

March 27 - April 27, 2025

La Tempestad is a bilingual English-Spanish adaptation of The Tempest that was performed in various locations in Rhode Island in 2018 as part of the Teatro en el Verano series. It now transfers to the main stage. With subtitles in both languages.

El Otro Oz by Mando Alvarado and Tommy Newman

Music and lyrics by Jaime Lozano and Newman

(dir. Elena Araoz)

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Kirk Douglas Theatre (Culver City, CA)

March 29 - April 13, 2025

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El Otro Oz is a bilingual musical about a 15-year-old Latina, Dora, who gets swept away to a new land where she learns to embrace her cultural identity. The play was first performed in 2022.​ The show will tour in Spring 2025 as part of a TheaterWorksUSA tour.

El Otro Oz, Mando Alvarado, Elena Araoz
Espejos Clean, Milwaukee Rep, Chrstine Quintana

Espejos Clean  by Christine Quintana
Spanish translation and adaptation by Paula Zelaya Cervantes

(dir. Juliette Carrillo)

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Milwaukee Repertory Theater (Milwaukee, WI)

April 8 - May 11, 2025

A play about isolation and friendship, with two female actors. A bilingual play with Spanish and English supertitles.

Private Lives  by Noël Coward

(dir. KJ Sanchez)

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Alley Theatre (Houston, TX)

May 23 - June 15, 2025​

Sanchez relocates Coward's 1930s comedy of manners in the French Riviera to 1930s Argentina.

Noel Coward KJ Sanchez, Alley Theatre Houston

Available Books

latinx theatrical adaptation, latinx plays, shakespearean productions and adaptations, latinx Shakespeares, productions and adaptations of Shakespeare's, latinx theatrical adaptations, latin american plays, latinx theatre adaptation

This book includes essays and interviews from 25 playwrights, actors, scholars, dramaturgs, and directors who work at the intersections of Shakespeare and Latinx theatrical production.

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It is available at all major online booksellers in hardcover and ebook. In February 2023, it went to paperback. 

latinx theatrical adaptation, latinx plays, shakespearean productions and adaptations, latinx Shakespeares, productions and adaptations of Shakespeare's, latinx theatrical adaptations, latin american plays, latinx theatre adaptation
International Latino Book Awards Academic

Latinx Shakespeares, the monograph, explores how Latinx culture is constructed dramaturgically and textually in recent Shakespearean adaptations and productions.

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It is available at all major online booksellers.

It is also available for FREE to download. Hit the button below.

Online Essays, Blogs, Podcasts, and Videos

“Staging Puerto Rican Culture: Speaking Spanish and English in Romeo and Juliet,” Shakespeare & Beyond, Folger Shakespeare Library, 2024.

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“Bilingual Shakespeares as a Pedagogy of Ethics,” Teaching Shakespeare Magazine, Special Edition: on Shakespeare, Race, and Pedagogy, 2024.

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"Staging Latinx Shakespeares with Dr. Carla Della Gatta," The Theatre History Podcast, 2024.

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"Latinx Shakespeares as Performance Methodology," British Shakespeare Association, 2023.

 

West Side Story: A New Take on Romeo and Juliet, 60 Years Later,” Shakespeare & Beyond, Folger Shakespeare Library, 2022.

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“How We Hear Shakespeare’s Plays with Carla Della Gatta,” Shakespeare Unlimited podcast, Folger Shakespeare Library, 2021.

​“West Side Story,” Shakespeare Hour Live!, Shakespeare Theatre Company, 2021.


“Shakespeare and Latinidad,” A Bit Lit films, 2021.

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“Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet Turns 25,” Shakespeare & Beyond, Folger Shakespeare Library, 2021.

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West Side Story: 60 Years as a Cultural Barometer,” Shakespeare & Beyond, Folger Shakespeare Library, 2021.

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For media (audio, video, and interviews) and additional resources, see the Resources page. For a full list of my scholarship and media, see carladellagatta.com.

LatinxShakespeares.Org is a non-profit site.
This is an online, living, and growing archive of Latinx Theatre Adaptation. 

Please credit all artists and scholars appropriately.

Please cite the archive in your dramaturgical and scholarly research.

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All images and ephemera have been posted with permission from theaters and artists.

They may not be reproduced or re-posted without permission.

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I built and paid for this site myself because of my love for theatre and theatre-makers.

I will be managing it as editor and adding to it each month.

All donations go to maintenance of the site.

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