Latin American Plays in Translation

Six new plays from Latin America’s most exciting and incisive playwrights, newly translated for an English-language audience.

From streetwise urchins with a sharp eye for political discourse in Chilé to artists who dream of better futures amidst crisis in Perú; from fairy-tale parodies of Princess Diana as an expression of gender-based violence to mundane, everyday acts of love amid hardship, Latin American Plays in Translation offers a unique insight into the concerns and creative responses of some of Latin America’s leading contemporary playwrights.

Curated by Global Voices Theatre, this collection features plays originally presented at their popular live events at Arcola Theatre in 2018 (Global Female Voices), and the Roundhouse in 2019 (Global Latin American Voices), sharing the multiplicity and complexity of Latin American experiences. The plays include:

La Jana by Juan Pablo Aguilera Justiniano, translated by William Gregory (Chilé)
A Ranch for the Lost Boys by Sebastián Eddowes, translated by the playwright (Perú)
The SAD Summers of Princess Diana by Carla Zuñiga, translated by Fran Olivares (Chilé)
She by Susana Torres Molina, translated by Gilda Bona (Argentina)
Nezahualcóyotl Dreams en Mictlan York by Xavier Villanova, translated by Roberto Cavazos (México)
Extraordinary Life by Mariano Tenconi Blanco, translated by Catherine Boyle (Argentina)

Complete with an introduction by Malú Ansaldo, international theatre producer and curator of the 2019 Global Latin American Voices event, as well as forewards from the translators of each plays, Latin American Plays in Translation invites readers to discover these stories of gender, class, and society that speak to modern audiences.

Fauve Alice studied at École Philippe Gaulier, Paris and has worked with various politically led theatre companies across Europe and Asia including Astragali in Italy and Out of the Cocoon in India. She is an associate artist at NPO Spare Tyre, was awarded the Artist’s International Development Fund to develop work in Poland, and led a workshop for the state theatre in Bucharest, Romania.

Malú Ansaldo is a Latinx cultural producer and programmer with over fifteen years of experience, specialising in artistic programming and development, international strategies and curating multiple art forms across platforms and continents. Recent roles include Interim Programme Director at Battersea Arts Centre, Head of Performing Arts at Roundhouse, Executive Producer at National Theatre Wales. Before these, Malú was at Shakespeare’s Globe for five years, working as International Associate producing the Hamlet World tour and Festival Producer for the Globe to Globe Festival. She has worked in Festivals in the UK and Argentina such as NNF, GDIF, FIBA and other international consultancies globally.

Juan Aguilera Justiniano is an actor, playwright and director who has worked regularly with Teatro La Concepción, with whom he premiered 13 theater productions. He was awarded “Best Direction” at the New Directors Festival at the University of Chile in 2009, “Best Foreign Work” at the FESTEA festival in Venezuela in 2009 and 2010, the "Leaders of the South" award in the Performing Arts category by El Sur in 2017. Aguilera has toured more than 40 theater festivals in countries such as; England, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru and Chile. Currently, he works as a playwright on the Fondant project, as director of the TV series “El Caballo Valiente”, and since 2020 alongside Mauro Lámanla (Italy) as creator and director of the play “Real Héroes”, which has been performed in Greece, Spain, Italy, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.

Sebastián Eddowes-Vargas (he/they) is a Peruvian theater artist, researcher and educator, author of “Hasta Que Choque El Hueso” (with Mario Zanatta), “Fronteiras” (with Colectivo Ambar), “Una Historia de (Poli)amor,” “Can The Peruvian Speak?,” among many others. His academic and theatrical work has been presented in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Perú, UK and USA, with awards from IberEscena (España), Shakespeare is Dead (Belgium), Global Latin American Voices (UK), Yale Summer Cabaret (USA), Teatro La Plaza, Municipalidad de Lima (Perú), among others. BA: Philosophy (UARM); MA: Hispanic, Latine and Latin American Studies (UIC); MFA: Dramaturgy (Yale University). He is a DFA candidate with the dissertation Post-national Dramaturgies of the Americas, or, The Nation Fails.

Mariano Tenconi Blanco is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and works as a writer, playwright and theater director. He wrote and directed La Fiera (The Beast), La vida extraordinaria (The Extraordinary Life), Las Cautivas (The Captives), La Mujer Fantasma (The Phantom Woman), among others. In 2013 he founded Compañía Teatro Futuro with the musician Ian Shifres and the producer Carolina Castro. He also obtained the first prize in the 18º National Playwright Contest of the National Theater Institute (2016), a national playwrihting contest that awards contemporary Argentine writing, for his play The extraordinary life. He was distinguished by the Konex Awards as one of the five best playwrights of the decade 2011- 2021 and as one of the ten directors of the decade 2014-2024. His plays were translated into English, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Catalan, Romanian and Chinese.

Susana Torres Molina is an Argentinian writer, author of more than 35 theatrical texts, theater director and Teacher of Dramaturgy. She has won the 1st Prize in the National Arts Fund Competition (2005), Trinidad Guevara Award (2006 and 2020), Florencio Sánchez Award (2008), Municipal Award (2012), Konex Award (2014), First National Prize (2019). She has directed almost all of her theatrical texts, as well as plays and musicals by other writers, and served as a jury member in numerous dramaturgy competitions. Her texts have been translated into several languages ??and have been performed in the USA, UK, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Peru, Uruguay, Portugal, the Czech Republic, among others.

Xavier Villanova is a Mexican playwright, screenwriter, stage director, translator, actor. His plays have been read & staged globally, including the US, Colombia, Venezuela, London and Barcelona. He is author in residence in the prestigious ‘International Writing Program’, winner of national awards and recipient of distinct creation grants, his work focuses on themes like myths, identity, death and resurrection. As professor, he has taught Playwriting, Drama and Theatre History at several universities in Mexico, and is the founder of Movimiento Íntimo, a renowned theatre movement for Site- Specific spaces and households. Xavier is also co-director of the theatre company ABSIDE, and Cocreator & host of Theatre Podcast: Question Teatral.

Carla Zúñiga, a celebrated Chilean playwright and feminist advocate, is a key figure in Chile's vibrant theatre scene. She has authored 37 dramatic texts, with 32 staged, reflecting her prolific and influential status. Her works, blending baroque, grotesque, and black comedy – inspired by the renowned Chilean playwright Juan Radrigán – deeply examine the lives of those marginalised by society, including women and gender dissidents. Her narratives, often tragicomic, have earned her accolades from the Critics’ Circle and the Ministry of Cultures, both in Chile. Carla's leadership at the XX Muestra Nacional de Dramaturgia and her participation in international stages like the Royal Court's programme in Chile and the Dublin Theater Festival's Next Stage 2019 highlight her global influence. Her published works by Chilenadedición and Ediciones Oxímoron continue to challenge and captivate audiences, ensuring her voice remains pivotal in imagining new futures and universes in Chilean theatre.

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