CHICAGO, April 3, 2023 - The Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) is proud to introduce Inicios: Chicago Latine Playwright Festival, a new, annual new play incubator for Chicago’s Latine voices.
Inicios is a new initiative from CLATA, best known for producing Destinos, the Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, and builds on the organization’s mission to increase the visibility of Latine voices on stages in Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America, year round.
“Our annual fall Destinos Festival is well known for showcasing fully-realized, ‘finished’ productions created by our Chicago Latine companies, most of them world premieres,” said Jorge Valdavia, Executive Director, CLATA. “With Inicios, CLATA is offering Chicago’s Latine theater artists a new platform to write a play, workshop it with a director and cast, present it as a staged reading, and gain invaluable artist and audience feedback to take it to full production. Inicios, literally, is a new beginning for nurturing new plays by Chicago’s Latine writers who have been relegated to the shadows of theatrical storytelling for too long.” Submissions for the first Inicios new play festival are now open at clata.org. CLATA is seeking full-length plays by writers from the greater Chicagoland area who identify as Latino/a/e/x. Submissions should be original works that represent the Latine experience and culture. Scripts should not have been produced before. Deadline to apply is Friday, April 21 at 11:59 p.m. CST. There is no fee to submit.
Submitted plays will be reviewed and selected by a panel of renowned Latine theater artists. Writers whose work is selected for workshops and staged readings will be notified in early May. A stipend of $1,000 will also be provided for each chosen script.
Workshops will take place May 30 through June 1, leading directly into free, public staged readings at the first Inicios: Chicago Latine Playwright Festival, June 2-4, 2023 at Aguijón Theater, Teatro Tariakuri and UrbanTheater Company. Stay tuned for details about the selected plays, directors and casts.
The first Inicios: Chicago Latine Playwright Festival is supported by Driehaus Foundation.
About the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA)
The Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) is a transformative cultural engine helping drive the city’s local Latine theater community to a more prominent level.
CLATA's signature program is Destinos, the Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, an annual, citywide festival showcasing Chicago’s Latine theater artists and companies alongside top Latine artists from the U.S. and Latin America. For six weeks each fall, Destinos presents a rich, diverse array of bilingual, Latine-themed shows, panels and student performances at marquee venues downtown, as well as storefront theaters and cultural institutions in predominantly Latine neighborhoods throughout the city.
Additionally, CLATA provides local Latine theater groups ongoing organizational and financial support, and is working to create a permanent home for Chicago’s Latine theater artists. Ultimately, CLATA works year round to enhance Chicago’s reputation as one of the most exciting and culturally diverse theater cities in the world.
CLATA was co-founded in 2016 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization by the late Myrna Salazar and Chicago’s three most prominent Latine arts organizations: the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA), the International Latino Cultural Center (ILCC), and the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (PRAA). Jorge Valdivia, formerly Director of Performing Arts at the National Museum of Mexican Art, was appointed CLATA’s Executive Director in November 2022.
CLATA gratefully acknowledges foundation support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Ford Foundation, Walder Foundation, Driehaus Foundation, Bezos Family Foundation, Creative Reaction Lab, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, Shubert Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Illinois Arts Council Agency and National Endowment for the Arts. Supporting partners are Allstate, Choose Chicago, Xfinity, 3Arts, ComEd and Wintrust. CLATA gratefully acknowledges foundation support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Ford Foundation, Walder Foundation, Driehaus Foundation, Bezos Family Foundation, Creative Reaction Lab, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, Shubert Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Illinois Arts Council Agency and National Endowment for the Arts. Supporting partners are Allstate, Choose Chicago, Xfinity, 3Arts, ComEd and Wintrust.