Melissa Manuel ’21
Majors: Film and Media Studies, Theatre
Faculty Collaborator: Mónica Sanchez, Theatre and Dance
This research project identified contemporary plays by Latinx playwrights. In the Spring semester of 2020, Professor Mónica Sanchez implemented “TEXTura: Contemporary Work by Latinx Playwrights.” This is to be an on-going campus wide series of staged readings done virtually of short (between 1 – 10 minutes) contemporary Latinx plays. The series endeavors to broaden the canon of the American theatre by presenting contemporary work that may still be existing in the margins of American theatre culture.
It is an opportunity for the greater CC community as well as Colorado Springs to be introduced to a well-spring of new work by Latinx theatre artists; the staged readings will create more opportunities for actors to practice their craft as well as encouraging more diversity and inclusion in the Department of Theatre and Dance, while forging an alliance between the Fine Arts Center (FAC) and the Theatre and Dance Department. These staged-readings will be done virtually as a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) style kit, where anyone interested can select the play they would like to do and record it and submit it to be presented as an Online Festival in the Fall 2020.
