Illustration by Tania Recio
Mex-Clásicos: A Cross-Border Initiative from Diversifying the Classics and UNAM
Mex-Clásicos is a collaborative initiative between Diversifying the Classics at UCLA and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), designed to build new bridges through the shared tradition of Hispanic classical theater. We commission contemporary Spanish-language adaptations of early modern plays, develop children’s books that bring classic stories to new generations, and foster creative and academic exchange. Through performances, workshops, and research seminars, Mex-Clásicos invites artists, students, and audiences to rethink the classics for today’s world. The project’s first wave of theatrical adaptations premiered at LA Escena 2024. In 2025, we launched a competition and theatermaker residency to encourage new dramaturgical voices across Mexico and the United States. Mex-Clásicos is an initiative funded by UC Alianza MX.
Academic Research
The Seminar on the Early Modern Period is a research group directed by Dr. Gabriela Villanueva-Noriega of UNAM’s Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. This scholarly space is a collaboration of students, faculty, and artists who explore the early modern period, currently focusing on dramatic texts.
The seminar has an annual symposium during September that expands on the texts and research discussed throughout the year. Click here for the call-for-papers.
Children’s Books Adaptations
In press, from Editorial Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo Léon:
Fuenteovejuna by Lope de Vega
La vida es sueño by Calderón de la Barca
Forthcoming:
El animal de Hungría by Lope de Vega
El rey naciendo mujer by Vélez de Guevara
La fuerza de la costumbre by Guillén de Castro
Valor, agravio y mujer by Ana Caro
Photo by Reed Hutchinson
Performances
Mex-Clásicos is designed to promote and incentivize the dramatic adaptation of comedias. To this end, we have planned several activities over the past few years for UNAM’s Festival Internacional de Teatro Universitario (FITU), including: Barbara Fuchs’ workshop “Nuevas Dramaturgias sobre el teatro clásico Novohispano” (2023), Paola Izquierdo and Fernando Villa’s workshop “Posibilidades de diálogo con textos áureos a partir de narrativas, lenguajes escénicos y preocupaciones del siglo XX” (2024), and Juan Carrillo’s work-in-progress presentation of Historia de un amor (2024). In spring 2025, we offered the theatermaker residency/laboratory “Nuevas Dramaturgias del Teatro Clásico Novohispano,” with five projects to be presented at UNAM’s 2025 FITU.
The initiative has also brought commissioned Mexican theatrical productions to UCLA’s LA Escena Festival. The 2024 edition included David Gaitán’s La tinta de mi honra, Ismael Rojas’ La última gran aventura de la Monja Alférez, and Los Colochos’ Historia de un amor.