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Teatro Program History
  
Theater
Arts Program Since
its inception, the Guadalupe has been producing plays at the historic
Guadalupe Theater . Under the direction of the first Theater Arts
Program Director Jorge Piña,
the program saw the emergence of local and regional talent
that was anxious to share the Chicano experience through staged
performances. The Theater Arts Program produces a season of
plays each year that investigates the Chicano/Latino experience.
Its repertoire consists of commissioned and original works
by established and aspiring playwrights, using local and national
theater directors and actors. The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
is an active member of the National Performance Network and
the San
Antonio Theater Coalition.
In 1987, the Theater Arts Program hosted the TENAZ Festival.
The festival featured twelve Latino theater companies from throughout
the United States , Mexico , Puerto Rico and Peru . Today, the
Guadalupe continues to work with international artists who collaborate
in the creation and production of new work. In 2004, then Theater
Arts Director Marisela Barrera founded TeatroFEST ,
a citywide theater festival celebrating the contributions of
Latinos in American Theater. As many as 6 San Antonio Theater
companies have participated in TeatroFEST, which
is held annually in the month of June.
With the inception of the Gateways
Creation and Presentation program in 1995, underwritten
by the Ford Foundation, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
continued with its effort to provide opportunities for new
creative works that reflect life and popular culture along
both sides of the border. This program gives U.S. artists the
opportunity to partner with artists from Mexico to create new,
multi-disciplinary works in the performing arts that take their
inspiration from the interplay between contemporary Chicano
and Mexican cultures. In recent years the Guadalupe Theater
Program has broadened its scope to reflect a Global Latino
Theater, showcasing artists from L.A., New York, and Chicago,
representing the cultures of Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Cuba, Colombia,
Peru, Brazil, Argentina, and more.
The education components of the Theater Arts Program include The
Teen Arts Puentes Project , the Guadalupe's multimedia
teen arts and activism program, Discover
Animo , an introduction to acting, Westside Scri
bes , an adult playwriting workshop, and GATOs (Guadalupe's
Apprentice Theater Outreach) , a unique partnership with
Our Lady of the Lake's drama students. Through the Theater Arts Program, the Guadalupe continues to
preserve, develop and present the Chicano/Latino experience to
the community. Notable past productions and featured artists include:
Las Nuevas Tamaleras by Alicia Mena
Real Women Have Curves by Josefina Lopez
Beautiful Senoritas by Dolores Pridas
Comedia A Go Go
La Posada Magica
Ay Pedro! by Marisela Barrera
Borderplex Electronica
S-E-X-Oh! and Machos by Teatro Luna
A Pueblo Christmas by Raul Ramos
The School of the Americas by Jose Rivera
Momma's Boyz by Candido Tirado
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