PORTLAND, ORE.: Latinx theatre company Milagro has announced its 2017-18 season, which will include three world premieres, a commedia dell’arte piece, and several shows dwelling on identity.
The season will begin with the annual Día de Muertos production, which this year will be the world premiere of Éxodo (Oct. 19 – Nov. 12). Created with Tracy Cameron Francis and Roy Antonio Arauz, and inspired by current events, this bilingual play tells the stories of those rising up to find safety in new lands.
Following that, Teatro Milagro, Milagro’s touring and arts education program, will produce the world premier of Bi— (Jan. 11-20). Devised with Georgina Escobar and choreographed by Gabriela Portuguez , this bilingual play explores the binaries in today’s rapidly changing America—biracial, bicultural, bilingual, bisexual—through interviews, poetic narrative, and dance.
Up next will be Astucias por heredar un sobrino a un tio (Feb. 8 – March 3), by Fermín de Reygadas. Presented in Spanish with English subtitles in the commedia dell’arte style, this social satire unfolds when the lower class people of Spain rise up against their extremely wealthy oppressors. Robi Arce will direct.
After that will be The Mermaid Hour (March 22 – April 14), by David Valdes Greenwood. Both poignant and comedic, The Mermaid Hour follows Pilar and Bird as they navigate the challenges of raising an 11-year-old daughter who is mixed race and transgender. Sacha Reich will direct. The play is a rolling world premiere supported by National New Play Network.
Closing out the season will be Watsonville: Some Place Not Here (May 3-26), by Cherríe Moraga. This bilingual play accounts the power of a Chicana community standing up for their human rights, and is loosely based on the 1980s Watsonville Cannery Strike. Cambria Herrera will direct.
Beyond the mainstage season, Milagro will also organize events open to the Portland community. Ingenio Milagro, a new play development program for Latinx playwrights, will run Sept. 8-10, and Posada Milagro, an annual Christmas celebration presented in Spanish and free for the community, will be on Dec. 10.
Meanwhile, Milagro’s touring and arts education program, Teatro Milagro, will tour El Payaso by Emilio Rodriguez, Mijita Fridita by Ajai Terrazas Tripathi, and Super Ana! by Olga Sanchez for students across the U.S.
Milagro has provided Latinx theatre, culture, and arts education since 1985.
