Author:Rebecca Smith

Mex-Clásicos: Commissioning Hispanic Classical Theatrical Adaptations in Mexico City

In January, DTC’s Mex-Clásicos and its collaborator, the Seminar on the Early Modern Period at la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico City, launched a call for a new artist residency and theatrical laboratory initiative: Nuevas Dramaturgias del Teatro Clásico Hispánico. The project encourages artists to produce contemporary adaptations of theatrical texts from the early modern period. Five applicants were chosen to participate in the initiative, which involves a series of courses, workshops, and master classes delivered by comedia specialists who aid in nurturing the writing and production processes of the selected plays. The initiative will culminate in works-in-progress performances at UNAM’s Festival Internacional de Teatro Universitario (FITU) which will take place September 4-14, 2025.

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Professor Barbara Fuchs Speaks with ArtsBridge Artist-Educators

On April 8th, Barbara Fuchs joined UCLA ArtsBridge’s director Perry Daniel and her class of undergraduate artist-educators to discuss comedia, adaptation, translation, and early modern visions of the world. This engaging discussion was part of DTC’s ongoing project, now entering its third year, to bring comedia to LAUSD students in collaboration with ArtsBridge and the Bresee Foundation. We are thrilled to work with such creative artist-educators to continue supporting students in our community in making Hispanic classical theater their own.

DTC’s Children’s Theater Workshop Returns to La Librería

In collaboration with La Librería, the noted Spanish-language children’s bookstore in Los Angeles, Diversifying the Classics will be hosting a theater workshop for kids ages 6-11 on May 17! Reprising our 2023 workshop, this event will teach young students about comedia in a bilingual art-making environment. Students will have the opportunity to learn theater techniques—how to tell stories with their bodies and voices, how to design costumes, how to make a set—and to put these skills to use in the production of a short play. This year’s play will be La vida es sueño by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, which DTC has adapted into both a children’s book and a shorter dramatic text.

Diversifying the Classics Visits Geffen Academy

This February, members of Diversifying the Classics visited UCLA’s 6th-12th grade school, Geffen Academy, to share their work with Upper School Spanish students. The visit was perfectly timed, as students in the Advanced Spanish course were studying Spanish Golden Age literature.READ MORE

DTC at the Shakespeare Association of America in Boston by Barbara Fuchs

A roundtable on scholars collaborating with New York’s Red Bull Theater, organized by Prof. Jean Howard of Columbia University, allowed us to share our vital partnership, “Hispanic Golden Age Classics,” with a large audience of early modernists.

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Ana Caro, Drama Queen, at the University of Chicago by Noémie Ndiaye

A most welcome note from Noémie Ndiaye, Associate Professor of English and Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Chicago, on her experience teaching DTC’s The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs:

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Golden Tongues Play at Ensemble Studio Theatre

In case you missed it at LA Escena, Rosie Nagasaki’s I Put a Spell on You, based on Ana Caro’s El conde Partinuplés, will have a staged reading this weekend as part of EST’s festival of new plays, Winterfest!

When: Saturday, April 5, 8pm

Where: 3269 Casitas Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90039

For more information:

https://www.estlosangeles.org/event-details/i-put-a-spell-on-you-written-by-rosie-narasaki-initiated-by-jennie-webb

Celebrate Ana Caro with Expand the Canon: March 30th at 10 am PST

To celebrate Women’s History Month, Expand the Canon, an organization that supports the study and production of classic plays by women and underrepresented genders, will host a digital discussion of Ana Caro’s Valor, agravio, y mujer. The discussion will take place on Sunday, March 30th at 10 am PST on Zoom. Diversifying the Classics is excited to join this discussion of Caro’s timeless text, which we translated as The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs in 2019. Contact emily@hedgepigensemble.org for more information.

New Book: Golden Tongues: Adapting Hispanic Classical Theater in Los Angeles

 

We are thrilled to announce the release of Golden Tongues: Adapting Hispanic Classical Theater in Los Angeles, an anthology that brings Hispanic classical theater into vibrant dialogue with contemporary storytelling. This collection, born of the collaboration between Diversifying the Classics and Playwrights’ Arena, features seven English-language adaptations of comedia classics by Los Angeles playwrights. These plays offer fresh perspectives on themes of gender, race, cultural identity, and social justice, connecting centuries-old narratives to the challenges and experiences of modern audiences.

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DTC Welcomes Paul Wagar to Translation Workshop

On December 3rd, Diversifying the Classics was delighted to welcome the acting professor and voice coach Paul Wagar to speak to the translation workshop. Paul worked with the actors in TFT’s extraordinary production of The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs by Ana Caro, directed by Michael Hackett. Paul shared invaluable insights about how actors receive translations of Hispanic classical theater and how DTC’s translations can be best adapted to the stage. Paul taught the workshop how details such as punctuation, line breaks, and sounds affect the way actors perform our texts, helping us make informed decisions in our scripts that will allow our translations to shine in the mouths of actors.