Luis Alfaro

Luis Alfaro (born 1963 in Los Angeles, California) is a Chicano performance artist, writer, theater director, and social activist.

Luis Alfaro
Luis Alfaro at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, September 2019
Born
Luis Alfaro

1963 (age 57–58)
Los Angeles, California
Occupation
  • Performance artist
  • playwright
  • theater director
  • social activist
Years active1992–present

He grew up in the Pico Union district near Downtown Los Angeles, and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in East Los Angeles. His plays and fiction are set in Los Angeles's Chicano barrios, including the Pico Union district, and often feature gay and lesbian and working-class themes. Many of Alfaro's plays also deal with the AIDS pandemic in Latino communities.[1] Noted plays include "Bitter Homes and Gardens," "Pico Union," "Downtown," "Cuerpo Politizado," "Straight as a Line," "Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner," "No Holds Barrio," and "Black Butterfly." Many of these plays have also been published as stories or poetry. He is the playwright-in-residence at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and an associate professor in the School of Dramatic Arts at the University of Southern California.[2]

His writing, both sole-authored and collaborative, is collected in numerous anthologies. In 1994 his spoken-word CD, Downtown was released. His short film Chicanismo was produced by the Public broadcasting Service and released in 1999.[3] He also contributed to the 1995 film Pochonovela,[4] a collaboration between the Cuban American performer Coco Fusco and the LA-based Chicano performance ensemble, Chicano Secret Service.[5] This mock telenovela explores and sends up Chicano activism and assimilation in a sardonic exploration of working class barrio life.[6]

In 2010, his play Oedipus El Rey,[7] a Chicano retelling of Oedipus Rex, had its world premiere at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco.[8] Oedipus El Rey had its Texas regional premiere at Dallas Theater Center from January 16-March 2, 2014 under the direction of Kevin Moriarty.[9] The play received a production at San Diego Repertory Theatre from March 10–29, 2015 under the direction of Sam Woodhouse.[10] Oedipus El Rey received its New York premiere at The Public Theater in collaboration with The Sol Project and Jacob Padrón in 2017. The play was produced at The Public Theater's Shiva Theater from October 3-November 19 under the direction of Chay Yew and was scheduled to run in 2018. The New York cast featured Juan Castano, Sandra Delgado, Julio Monge, Joel Perez, Brian Quijada, Reza Salazar, and Juan Francisco Villa.[11]

Luis Alfaro's solo show St. Jude is the playwright's tribute to his father. St. Jude is an autobiographical play that details the complicated relationship between Alfaro and his father. The show begins with Alfaro describing going back home to rural California after learning his father has suffered a stroke. The play moves back and forth between Alfaro growing up and the events that follow his father's stroke. There are many stories within the larger narrative and they all relate to the overall theme of finding identity. Scenes from his childhood include working in the fields during summers, family celebrations, and some rocky teenage years, including once running away. The small stories and anecdotes from Alfaro's childhood all relate back to his father or his personal journey.[12] St. Jude was produced at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, CA from September 19-October 6, 2013 under the direction of Robert Egan.[13] The play ran from February 13–16, 2014 at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, CA.[14] St. Jude was produced as part of Victory Gardens Theater's Up Close and Personal Series in 2017.[15]

Luis Alfaro's Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles is a contemporary retelling of Medea. Mojada was first produced at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco in 2012 under the title Bruja. Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles was then produced at the Getty Villa in 2015.[16] Mojada received a production at Oregon Shakespeare Festival from February 19-July 5, 2017 under the direction of Juliette Carrillo. The cast featured Sabina Zúñiga Varela, Lakin Valdez, VIVIS, Nancy Rodriguez, Vilma Silva, Jahnangel Jimenez, and Connor Chaney.[17] Mojada played Off-Broadway at the Public Theatre July 2-August 11, 2019 under the direction of Chay Yew with Sabina Zúñiga Varela reprising her starring role, but with the play itself set in Queens instead of L.A. [18]

Rosa Andújar edited The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro which brought together for the first time Alfaro's three 'Greek' plays. These plays are based on Sophocles' Electra and Oedipus, and Euripides' Medea. Alfaro's Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, and Mojada platform the concerns of the Chicanx and wider Latinx communities in Los Angeles and New York through ancient drama.[19]

Grants and awards

Alfaro has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the MacArthur "Genius" Foundation Fellowship in 1997,[20] and the 1998 National Hispanic Playwriting Competition Prize.[21] In 2013, he began a three-year term as the Playwright in Residence at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival through the National Playwright Residency Program, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by HowlRound. In 2016, the grant was renewed for an additional three years.[22][23]

Plays
  • The Gardens of Aztlan
  • Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
  • Black Butterfly, Jaguar Girl, Piñata Woman and Other Superhero Girls, Like Me
  • Lady Bird
  • Bitter Homes and Gardens
  • Straight as a Line
  • Body of Faith
  • No Holds Barrio (2004)
  • Downtown
  • Electricidad (2003)
  • Oedipus El Rey (2010)[7][8][11]
  • Bruja (2012)[24]
  • St. Jude (2013)[25]
  • Alleluia, The Road (2013)[26]
  • This Golden State Part One: Delano (2015)[27][28]
  • Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles (2015)[29]

Screenplays

Performances
  • The Pikme-Up (2006)[31]

Bibliography
  • Alfaro, Luis. "Pico-Union," in Men on Men 4, edited by George Stambolian, Plume, New York, 1992, pp. 268–283.
  • Alfaro, Luis. Down Town, (CD), New Alliance Records, Lawndale, 1993.
  • Alfaro, Luis. "Cuerpo Politizado," in Uncontrollable Bodies: Testimonies of Art and Culture, edited by Rodney Sappington and Tyler Stallings, Bay Press, Seattle, 1994, pp. 216–241.
  • Alfaro, Luis. "Bitter Homes and Gardens," in His, edited by Robert Drake and Terry Wolverton, Faber and Faber, Boston, 1995, pp. 100–107.
  • Alfaro, Luis. "Straight as a Line," in Out of the Fringe: Contemporary Latina/Latino Theatre and Performance, edited by Caridad Svich and Maria Teresa Marrero, Theatre Communication Group, New York, 2000, pp. 1–42.
  • Andújar, Rosa (ed.). The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro: Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, Mojada, Methuen Drama [Bloomsbury], London and New York, 2020.

Critical studies
  • Allatson, Paul. "Siempre feliz en mi falda: Luis Alfaro's Simulative Challenge," in GLQ (A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies), vol. 5, no. 2, 1999, pp. 199–230.
  • Allatson, Paul. "Luis Alfaro," in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latina/o Literature, Oxford University Press, New York, 2019.
  • Andújar, Rosa. "Luis Alfaro's Griego Drama: An Introduction," in The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro: Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, Mojada, edited by Rosa Andújar, Methuen Drama [Bloomsbury], London and New York, 2020, pp. 1-19.
  • Andújar, Rosa. "Electricidad: A Chicanx Tragedy of Family, Feminism, and Fury," in The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro: Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, Mojada, edited by Rosa Andújar, Methuen Drama [Bloomsbury], London and New York, 2020, pp. 20-26.
  • Andújar, Rosa. "Oedipus El Rey: Blind Love and the Chains of Destiny," in The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro: Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, Mojada, edited by Rosa Andújar, Methuen Drama [Bloomsbury], London and New York, 2020, pp. 110-114.
  • Andújar, Rosa. "Mojada: Dramatizing Latinx Migrations," in The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro: Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, Mojada, edited by Rosa Andújar, Methuen Drama [Bloomsbury], London and New York, 2020, pp. 180-186.
  • Arrizón, Alicia. Queering Mestizaje: Transculturation and Performance, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2006.
  • Foster, David William. "El cuerpo de Luís Alfaro: identidades sexuales y performance," in Literatura e autoritarismo: estudos culturais, no. 1 (Janeiro 2003).[32]
  • Foster, David William. "The Representation of the Queer Body in Latin American Theater," in Latin American Theatre Review, vol. 38, no. 1 (Fall 2004), pp. 23–38.
  • Foster, David William. El ambiente nuestro: Chicano/Latino Homoerotic Writing, Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, Tempe, AZ, 2006.
  • Muñoz, José Esteban. "Luis Alfaro's Memory Theatre," in Corpus Delecti, edited by Coco Fusco, Routledge, New York and London, 1999.
  • Rodriguez y Gibson, Eliza. "Luis Alfaro," in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature, edited by Emmanuel S. Nelson. Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 2005. Vol. 1, pp. 131–132.
  • Román, David. "'Teatro Viva!' Latino Performance and the Politics of AIDS in Los Angeles," in ¿Entiendes? Queer Readings, Hispanic Writings, edited by Emilie L. Bergman and Paul Julian Smith (eds.), Duke University Press, Durham, 1995, pp. 346–369.
  • Román, David. "Luis Alfaro," in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, edited by Suzanne Oboler and Deena J. González, Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford, 2005. Vol. 1, pp. 57–59.

References
  1. Román, David. "'Teatro Viva!' Latino Performance and the Politics of AIDS in Los Angeles," in ¿Entiendes? Queer Readings, Hispanic Writings, edited by Emilie L. Bergman and Paul Julian Smith (eds.), Duke University Press, Durham, 1995, pp. 346–69
  2. trevorboffone (2016-04-22). "Luis Alfaro". Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  3. "Chicanismo". IMDb.
  4. Fusco, Coco. "Pochonovela: A Chicano Soap Opera | Video Data Bank". www.vdb.org. Archived from the original on 8 December 2018.
  5. Apodaca, Rose; Vanderknyff, Rick (24 January 1992). "Chicano Secret Service On Duty : Comedy: The Los Angeles-based group brings its satire to Orange County for the first time". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 8 December 2018.
  6. Allatson, Paul. "Siempre feliz en mi falda: Luis Alfaro's Simulative Challenge," in GLQ (A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies), vol. 5, no. 2, 1999, pp. 199–230.
  7. Soloski, Alexis (19 November 2017). "Review: A Timely Take on 'Oedipus' by Way of South Central Los Angeles". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018.
  8. "Oedipus el Rey, by Luis Alfaro". magictheatre.org. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017.
  9. "OEDIPUS EL REY | Dallas Theater Center". www.dallastheatercenter.org. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  10. Diego, Anne Marie Welsh, special to the U-T San. "'Oedipus' a vivid and fitting Rep show". sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  11. "Oedipus El Rey". www.publictheater.org. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018.
  12. "Victory Gardens Theater: ST. JUDE Review- Emotionally Charged". Picture this Post. 2017-05-25. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  13. "St. Jude: Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  14. Repertory, South Coast (2014-02-07). "South Coast Repertory: The "Genius" of Luis Alfaro". South Coast Repertory. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  15. "Victory Gardens Theater: ST. JUDE Review- Emotionally Charged". Picture this Post. 2017-05-25. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  16. Boehm, Mike (2015-09-04). "Luis Alfaro's 'Mojada' draws on Greek tragedy, Mexican American immigration". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  17. "Oregon Shakespeare Festival".
  18. "Luis Alfaro's Mojada Opens July 17 at The Public Theater Off-Broadway".
  19. Bloomsbury.com. "The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  20. "Luis Alfaro — MacArthur Foundation". www.macfound.org. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  21. "Author Profile - Luis Alfaro". www.dramaticpublishing.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017.
  22. "Residencies". HowlRound. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  23. "The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and HowlRound Announce $5.58 Million in Grants through the National Playwright Residency Program". mellon.org. 2016-04-05. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  24. http://magictheatre.org/past-productions/bruja-by-luis-alfaro
  25. https://www.redcat.org/event/luis-alfaro
  26. https://www.broadwayworld.com/san-francisco/article/Intersection-for-the-Arts-and-California-Shakespeare-Present-CALIFAS-FESTIVAL-thru-1117-20131105
  27. http://magictheatre.org/past-productions/this-golden-state-part-one-delano-by-luis-alfaro
  28. https://www.broadwayworld.com/san-francisco/article/THIS-GOLDEN-STATE-AND-I-AND-SILENCE-and-SISTER-PLAY-World-Premieres-Set-for-Magic-Theatres-2014-15-Season-20140404
  29. http://www.getty.edu/museum/programs/performances/outdoor_theater_15.html
  30. From Prada to Nada at IMDb
  31. The Pikme-Up at IMDb
  32. Foster, David William. "EL CUERPO DE LUIS ALFARO: IDENTIDADES SEXUALES Y PERFORMANCE". Literatura e Autoritarismo - Estudos Culturais. coralx.ufsm.br. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
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