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Aug. 4--Given the demographics of Chicago, the politics of money and the relative paucity of opportunities for Latino theater artists in America's third-largest city, the Goodman Theatre's Latino Theatre Festival has to contend with some mighty tough and tricky expectations.
This festival takes place only every other year. So what should it be doing? Bringing in the best international work from the Latino world? Showcasing local troupes? Premiering new works? All of the above?
And is the intended audience the arty, theater-going set--or a more general population with roots in the Latino world?
Then there's the thorny issue of language. You could argue that Chicagoans need and deserve a Spanish-language theater festival. But that can limit the audience. Moreover, much of the important work by Latino-American theater artists actually is penned in English (or some fusion of the two languages). And when a lack of funding killed the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles' prominent Latino Theater Initiative last year, that only added to the national crisis in the development of new Latino works for English-speaking theaters.
Henry Godinez is the guy who runs the Goodman's festival. He understands the weight of these expectations and also the truth that one non-profit Chicago festival over three weeks can do only so much. And here's how he has decided to do things this year.
"The first weekend," Godinez says, "is all about new work by Latino theater artists based in the United States. This is kind of our response to the sad demise of the Latino Initiative at the Taper."
In that vein, the festival's first weekend kicks off Friday with Luis Alfaro performing "Book of Titus and Other Latino Bible Stories." Ironically, it's a new piece inspired by the Chicano community based in Los Angeles. And it's directed by Chay Yew--himself a prominent writer.
But if you look at the rest of this opening weekend, you can see that Godinez is not merely bringing in out-of-towners. Migdalia Cruz's "El Grito del Bronx" (Saturday afternoon only), for example, is a new contemporary play by a superb writer, and is under the helm of the Chicago director Lisa Portes and presented with Teatro Vista, a Chicago group that surely needs this kind of nurturing support from the biggest non-profit theater in town.
Similarly, Tanya Saracho's "Quita Mitos," a new collection of interlocking monologues about Mexican-American women, is presented at the Goodman Theatre (on Sunday only) in association with Chicago's Teatro Luna, another stalwart of the local Latino scene.
Better yet, much of the above offers free admission.
According to Goodman executive director Roche Schulfer, festival funders like The Chicago Community Trust, the Joyce Foundation and Wal-Mart have made possible a festival with a budget of around $300,000.
And then once the festival moves into its second and third weekends, its focus changes to presenting major touring companies from abroad (or out of town) in short runs. "We have several international groups coming," Godinez says, "including one from Brazil, which is a new thing for our event."
The shows--which require tickets priced between $15 and $25--are varied in style and content. Some are performed in Spanish with translations, and some in English.
It shouldn't matter all that much either way. "I tried," Godinez says, "to find shows where the language was not the most important thing."
Festival highlights include "1001 Nights" by the Comediants, a Spanish arts collective. The piece is set inside a demolished library in Baghdad and uses stories from "The Arabian Nights." In the Festival's only longish run, it performs Wednesday to Aug. 13.
A group called Pia Fraus performs "Bichos do Brasil" (Aug. 18-20), a puppet-driven piece that creates an enchanted forest inspired by Brazilian myths and culture. Language isn't the point. Kids under 12 get in free. "It was very important to me that we had a family component," says Godinez, who has a young family himself.
And on the festival's last week, you can see Compania Marta Carrasco, a troupe that appeared at the Goodman in 2003. This year, the troupe is doing "Ga-ga" (Aug. 16-18), a piece set around a traveling circus. That weekend (Aug. 19-20), the company's namesake, Marta Carrasco herself, will perform "Aiguardent," a solo performance.
Alongside those marquee events are other performances, with various discussion panels and the like.
Two years ago, the Latino Theatre Festival attracted larger audiences than the Goodman had been expecting. Given the quality and diversity of this year's slate, that seems likely to happen again, especially since the first weekend of the festival coincides with the Association for Theatre in Higher Education's annual conference in Chicago, an event that's located here only once every several years and brings hundreds of theater academics to town.
And what of the future?
Godinez says he wants to improve the festival's ability with supertitles and instant translation, allowing him to bring more (Spanish) language-based troupes to town. He also says he's aware that some people think Mexican companies have been underrepresented to date, and he plans to address that imbalance in forthcoming festivals.
Schulfer says the Goodman is fully behind the whole thing.
"This a is a very big and difficult thing for the Goodman to produce," Schulfer says, "but we think this festival deserves its chance to keep growing."
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FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
"Book of Titus and Other Latino Bible Stories": 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat. in the Owen Theatre at the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St.; $10-$15. Luis Alfaro's new solo piece inspired by the voices of L.A.'s Chicano community.
"El Grito del Bronx": 2 p.m. Sat. in the Owen; free. On her wedding day, Lulu must confront her brother Papo's legacy of violence.
"Dark Play, or Stories for Boys": 5 p.m. Sat. in the Owen; free. The phrase "I want to fall in love," found in an otherwise innocuous online personal ad, sets off a series of cyberspace adventures that leads two teenage boys to the brink of death.
"Quita Mitos": 2 p.m. Sun. in the Owen; free. Tanya Saracho introduces us to three very different Mexican-American women.
"Yerma": 7 p.m. Mon. in the Owen; $10-$15. Maternal desire drives a woman to desperation. Presented in Spanish by Aguijon Theater with dance company Luna Negra.
"Las Mil y Una Noches": 7:30 p.m. Wed. and Thurs., 8 p.m. Aug. 11-12 and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Aug. 13, in the Albert Theatre; $15-$25. Comediants adapt "1001 Nights" to a demolished library in Baghdad; in Spanish with English supertitles.
"Blue Sweat": 8 p.m. Aug. 11-12 in the Owen; $10-$20. The Muse appears to Junior, a hard-luck horn player. By Universes, an ensemble of multidisciplinary writers and performers from the Bronx.
"Bichos do Brasil": Performing Aug. 18-20 in the Albert; $15, kids free. Brazilian company's puppet show for all ages.
"Ga-ga": 7:30 p.m. Aug. 16-17, 8 p.m. Aug. 18 in the Owen; $15-$25. Set in the world of a traveling circus where everything is possible; presented in Spanish.
"Aiguardent": 8 p.m. Aug. 19 and 7:30 p.m. Aug. 20 in the Owen; $15-$25. Marta Carrasco returns to give the swan song of her critically acclaimed solo work.
Tickets for the 2006 Latino Theatre Festival may be purchased at the Goodman box office by calling 312-443-3800 or at www.goodmantheatre.org. Festival passes start at $55. Free events require a reservation. For a complete schedule of all events, including panel discussions, contact www.goodmantheatre.org.
cjones5@tribune.com
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Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Tribune
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