Sol 3: luis alfaro

luis alfaro
the playwright

​Luis Alfaro has been working in theater, performance, poetry and journalism since 1982. A multi-disciplined artist, he is also works as a director, curator, producer, educator and community organizer. ​A Chicano born and raised in the Pico-Union district of downtown Los Angeles, Luis is the recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowship, popularly known as a “genius grant”, awarded to people who have demonstrated expertise and exceptional creativity in their respective fields. He is the first Playwright-in-Residence in the 83-year history of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the largest repertory theatre in the United States, serving for six seasons through the generous support of the Andrew S. Mellon Foundation. He was most recently a Joyce Foundation Fellow. Luis is the only playwright to have received two Kennedy Center ‘Fund for New American Play’ awards in the same year.

​His plays have been seen throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and include "Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles" (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Getty Villa-Malibu [Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and Los Angeles Ovation Award, Best Play], Victory Gardens Theatre–Chicago [Jefferson Award, Best New Play], and upcoming at Portland Center Stage) "St. Jude" (Victory Gardens Theatre-Chicago, Under The Radar West @ Kirk Douglas Theatre-Los Angeles, South Coast Repertory-Costa Mesa) "Delano" (Magic Theatre-San Francisco) "Painting in Red" (Playwrights Arena-Los Angeles) "Alleluia the Road" (Campo Santo/California Shakespeare-San Francisco) "Aesop in Rancho Cucamonga" (Lewis Family Playhouse-Rancho Cucamonga) "Bruja" (Magic Theatre-San Francisco, Borderlands Theatre-Tucson), "Oedipus El Rey" (Getty Villa-Malibu, Magic Theater-San Francisco [Glickman Prize, Bay Area Theatre Critics Award], Boston Court Theatre-Pasadena [L.A. Weekly Award, Adaptation], Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company-Washington DC, Borderlands Theatre-Tucson, Pangea Theatre-Minneapolis, Miracle Theatre Group-Portland, Victory Gardens Theatre-Chicago [Best of the Year: Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Reader], eSe Teatro-Seattle, Dallas Theatre Center, San Diego Repertory) "Hero" (Playwrights Arena-Los Angeles, Teatro Vision-San Jose) "Electricidad" (Goodman Theater-Chicago, Mark Taper Forum-Los Angeles [Published-American Theatre Magazine, Backstage Garland Award], Teatro Vision-San Jose, Sacramento Theatre Company, San Pedro Playhouse-San Antonio, Teatro Nuevo Mexico-Albuquerque, Pacifica Spindrift Players, Bilingual Foundation of the Arts-Los Angeles, Artes de la Rosa-Fort Worth, Teatro Vagon-San Francisco, Teatro Espejo-Sacramento; 32 productions) "Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner" (Teatro Vista-Chicago, Synchronicity-Atlanta, Hartford Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival) "Body of Faith" (Cornerstone Theater Company-Los Angeles [PEN Center Award for Drama]) "Straight as a Line" (Goodman Theatre-Chicago, 3-Legged Race-Minneapolis, Playwrights Arena-Los Angeles, Primary Stages-New York, National Theatre of Romania [two-year run], Edinburgh Festival-Scotland) "Bitter Homes and Gardens" (Latino Chicago, Playwrights Arena-Los Angeles) "Ladybird" (La Jolla Playhouse-POP Tour) "Black Butterfly, Jaguar Girl, Piñata Woman and Other Super Hero Girls, Like Me" (Smithsonian Museum, The Kennedy Center, Actors’ Gang-Los Angeles, Coterie Theatre-Kansas City, Mark Taper Forum-Los Angeles, East L.A. Repertory, Working Classroom-Albuquerque).

His solo performance work has been seen throughout the United States, England and Mexico, including the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, The Getty Center, Boston Center for the Arts, The Goodman Theatre, Hirshorn Museum at the Smithsonian, South Coast Repertory, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and X-Teresa Performance Space in Mexico City.

Luis was a resident artist at the Mark Taper Forum for ten years. He served as Director of New Play Development where he produced and developed over one hundred and fifty new plays in the Taper Too, New Work Festival and Next Step seasons as well as managed the laboratory work of the company.
He has taught throughout the country and is now an Associate Professor with tenure in the MFA Dramatic Writing Program at the University of Southern California (USC). Previously he taught at California Institute of the Arts (Cal-Arts).

He has an Emmy-nominated short film, "Chicanismo" [Best Experimental Film, San Antonio CineFestival, Best Short, CineAccion San Francisco] and an award-winning recording, "down town," on SST/New Alliance Records [Best Spoken-Word Release, National Association of Independent Record Distributors].

Oedipus el rey
the play

Set in South Central LA, "Oedipus El Rey" is an electrifying new take on the Greek tragedy, written by acclaimed playwright Luis Alfaro (Electricidad, Straight as a Line). Oedipus is reimagined as a troubled Latino whose dreams of controlling his own destiny soar above the barbed wire of the prison where he’s spent his life. But in a place where everyone is trapped—by desperation or fate, history or violence—no one man can change his story alone. Love, family and belief collide in this chilling, incredibly powerful new play that asks: what’s fate, and what’s just the system?

"This endeavor represents a fulfillment of the American Theater’s promise to be a space for all American stories."—Jacob Padrón

“By the end of our production with The Sol Project, we will have suddenly a hefty new chunk of Latino theater artists who are part of the family. And I’m going to have their voices and their eyes in my head when I plan the season.” —Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director, The Public Theater

the public THEATER
the partner theater

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, The Public Theater is the only theater in New York City that produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day.  Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases for nearly 60 years, today the company engages audiences with a breadth of programming that includes, a robust annual season of new musicals and plays at its landmark home at Astor Place; it's beloved Free Shakespeare in the Central Park at the Delacorte Theater; it's Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions to venues throughout New York's five boroughs; The Public Forum, a series of insightful conversations centered around the themes sparked from the work onstage and around the globe; The Under The Radar Festival, an annual international festival of new work; Public Studio, connecting audiences with artists at the early stage of new work development; Joe's Pub, the best of live music and performance nightly; and Public Works, a major national and international initiative that seeks to engage communities in the creation of participatory theater.  The Public is currently represented on Broadway and around the world by the Tony Award-winning American musical "Hamilton."  The Public is the recipient of 59 Tonys, 168 Obies, 53 Drama Desks, 54 Lortels, 32 OCC Awards and 5 Pulitzer Prizes.  PublicTheater.org

Chay yew
the director

His New York credits include "Durango, Ameriville and Low" (Public Theater); "A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick" (Playwrights Horizons); "The Architecture of Loss" (New York Theater Workshop); "My Mañana Comes" (Playwrights Realm); "The House of Bernarda Alba" (National Asian American Theatre Company); and "Last of the Suns" (Ma Yi Theatre Company). His regional credits include productions at Goodman Theater, Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Oregon Shakespeare Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Kennedy Center; Mark Taper Forum, American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Long Wharf Theatre, Denver Center Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Northlight Theater, Playmakers Rep, InterAct, Empty Space Theatre, Boise Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Boston Court, East West Players, Teatro Vista, amongst others. His opera credits include world premieres of Osvaldo Golijov and David Henry Hwang’s "Ainadamar" (coproduction with the Tanglewood Music Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic); and Rob Zuidam’s "Rage of d’Amours" (Tanglewood Music Center). A recipient of the Obie Award and DramaLogue Award for Direction, he is the Artistic Director of Victory Gardens.

with Juan Castano, Sandra Delgado, Julio Monge, Joel Perez, Brian Quijada, Reza Salazar, Juan Francisco Villa

sets: Riccardo Hernandez
lights: Lap Chi Chu
costumes: Anita Yavich
wig/makeup: Leah Loukas
fight director: David Anzuelo
dialect: Ron Carlos
original music and sound design: Fabian Obispo

#OedipusElRey      #PublicTheater
@PublicTheaterNY   @solprojectnyc

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highlights

2018 Drama Desk Award, Special Award, Juan Castano
2018 Drama Desk Nomination, Outstanding Fight Choreography, David Anzuelo
2018 Drama League Nomination, Outstanding Production of a Play
2018 Drama League Nomination, Distinguished Performance, Juan Castano
2018 Hewes Design Nomination, Scenic Design, Riccardo Hernandez
2018 Hewes Design Nomination, Notable Effects, Fabian Obispo

A Chicano Twist to a Classic Tragedy: Playwright Luis Alfaro's 'Oedipus El Rey'
NBC News | November 1st, 2017

Gay Latino Playwright Luis Alfaro's New Take on Oedipus Is Set in a South Central Prison
Out | September 1st, 2017