DTC Celebrates Hispanic Classical Theater in Mexico City

DTC Celebrates Hispanic Classical Theater in Mexico City

DTC Members

In early September, Diversifying the Classics visited Mexico City for a colloquium on classical theater titled “De los textos a las tablas: El teatro de la modernidad temprana (s. XVI-XVII) en su proyección geográfica, mediática y temporal,” hosted by the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (FFyL) at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). This colloquium was one outcome of the work we have been doing through Mex-Clásicos, a collaborative project between UNAM and UCLA, funded by the UC’s Alianza-MX office.

Over the course of three thought-provoking and enriching days, participants presented on a range of topics, such as gender, identity, translations, and performance in early modern theater. Members of DTC presented a roundtable titled, “Comedia in Practice: 10 Years of Diversifying the Classics for New Audiences.” Moderated by long-time member Laura Muñoz, Rhonda Sharrah, Rebecca Smith, Rachel Kaufman, Sofía Yazpik, and Saraí Jaramillo spoke about DTC’s many projects including LA Escena, the Red Bull Reading Series, Radio Comedia, Mex-Clásicos, Golden Tongues and collaborative work with LA educators to further transmit classical Hispanic theater to all ages and backgrounds.

DTC Members

Our director, Professor Barbara Fuchs gave a keynote presentation titled “Estrategias Brechtianas e intermediales en el teatro clásico actual,” which generated fruitful questions and dialogue between the participants and audience alike. Fuchs also participated in the final roundtable, “Poner la escucha al frente: dialogar, colaborar, investigar,” alongside the colloquium’s organizer Professor Gabriela Villanueva Noriega, to discuss the collaborative Mex-Clásicos project and how to explore classical Hispanic theater through a creative and innovative process.

In addition to roundtables and keynote presentations, each day concluded with special performances, including Paola Izquierdo’s Historias amorosas no tan ejemplares o Lo que pasa en el Sarao, se queda en el Sarao, based on a selection of texts written by María de Zayas y Sotomayor, which will be performed at LA Escena 2026.

Juicio a dos guajolotes sin mole by Adrían Martagón

The DTC team also had the opportunity to attend performances at UNAM’s Festival Internacional de Teatro Universitario (FITU), which ran in conjunction with the colloquium, and to attend a workshop on the various adaptations commissioned through Mex-Clásicos’ convocatoria.

At FITU, five theater companies who had been selected to produce adaptations of early modern plays for for Mex-Clásicos’s residency initiative, Residencia/Laboratorio: Nuevas dramaturgias del Teatro Clásico Hispánico, had the opportunity to present their projects:

– El teatro de los elefantes: Los pretendientes by Elena Andrade Martínez, based on Valor, agravio y mujer written Ana Caro. Direction by René Sabina.

– Los chatos teatro: Juicio a dos guajolotes sin mole by Adrían Martagón, based on Dos guajolotes que se pelearon. 

-Colectivo desde los huesos: Mi barrio ñero no se vende por dinero by Alejandra Piastro and Federico Zapata. Based on Amar después de la muerte o el Tuzaní de las Alpujaras by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. Direction and adaptation by Sergio López Vigueras.

-La casa de los empeños by Christian Nájera Jiménez, based on Los empeños de una casa by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

-Escena ovejuna: Blind-Me App: tu nuevo amor es ciego, dramaturgy and direction by Erandi Zenil.

Of these five exceptional pieces, La casa de los empeños was selected by the committee to perform at the upcoming LA Escena 2026.

La casa de los empeños by Christian Nájera Jiménez

Congratulations to all the presenters, performers, and organizers for a wonderful colloquium and festival. Special thanks to Mex-Clásicos member Gabriela Villanueva and her incredible team for making our cross-border collaboration possible.