NEW YORK CITY: Darrel Alejandro Holnes, Latinx Playwrights Circle, and Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater announced the lineup for the Second Annual Greater Good Commission and Festival. Five short plays by LGBTQIA+ and Latinx-identifying playwrights will be featured, including work by Dominic Colón, Lily Gonzales, Tavi Juárez, Phanésia Pharel, and Andrew Rincón.
“The Greater Good Commission lifts Latinx theatre artists at a time when the entire world is thirsty for stories from the global majority,” said Pregones/PRTT associate artistic director Jorge B. Merced in a statement. “A year of pandemic and social agitation only steeled the resolve of its creators to make this festival a standout occasion for creative inquiry, affirmation, and accomplishment.”
The selected works have responded to the Greater Good Commission’s charge to reflect the time and be innovative in form. They are Where’s Our Angels? by Dominic Colón, about a couple’s mixed reactions to “the most important play of our generation” the day before the Broadway shutdown in 2020; no me dejas by lily gonzales, about the last lesbian bar in San Antonio closing down; Zoom Wedding by Tavi Juárez, about the chaos of Marisol and Isela’s Zoom wedding day; Domestication, PLEASE by Phanésia Pharel, about a cam girl’s struggles after a rant of hers is leaked online; and GUAU by Andrew Rincón, about Oscar, who is just out of a relationship, looking to finally let his “puta” side out and take Truvada when he discovers a different kind of pill to prevent HIV called “Guau.”
“This second round keeps us in line with our mission to foster work from the most marginalized within the Latinx community,” said Darrel Alejandro Holnes in a statement. “This commission is not only a step forward for these five commissioned playwrights, but one for the Latinx, American, and LGBTQTIA+ theater community nationwide.”
Each play will be filmed and premiered at an in-person screening at Pregones/PRTT on film to maximize reach. In-person screening premieres will be held at Pregones/PRTT’s Off-Broadway theatre on 47th St. on Oct. 22 at 7:30 p.m. Following the in-person premiere screening at PRTT, the festival will stream online for a limited time.
Pregones/PRTT has partnered with the Latinx Playwrights Circle in this initiative since The Greater Good Commission was founded.
“We must continue to be bold and loud in our work, and this second iteration of the Greater Good is no different from the first in how it creates space for our communities to be their unapologetic selves,” said Guadalís del Carmen, co-artistic director of Latinx Playwrights Circle and Ars Nova Resident artist, in a statement.
Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater is a multigenerational performing ensemble, multidiscipline arts presenter, and owner/steward of bilingual arts facilities in the Bronx and Manhattan. Their mission is to champion a Puerto Rican/Latinx cultural legacy of universal value through creation and performance of original plays and musicals, exchange and partnership with other artists of merit, and engagement of diverse audiences.
Latinx Playwrights Circle’s mission is to build a network of LatinX Playwrights nationwide in order to promote, develop and elevate their work while making their plays accessible to theater makers looking to find the next generation of American Storytellers. The group is mentored by esteemed playwrights Migdalia Cruz, Carmen Rivera, and Cándido Tirado.
This program is also made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
