Chicanas/Latinas in American Theatre: A History of Performance - Tapa dura

This study reveals the traditions of Chicanas/Latinas in theatre and performance, showing how Latina/Latino theatre has evolved from its pre-Columbian, Spanish, and Mexican origins to its present prominence within American theatre history. During critical periods of history Chicanas/Latinas have emerged as central figures of political subject. In U.S. theatre, during the period of political turmoil before, during, and after the Mexican Revolution, their role provides the basis for an analysis of the cultural, social, historical, and political effects on a people that had been under a dictatorship, left it behind, and emerged within a democratic society to participate in a major theatrical movement in the U.S. Although theatrical activity died down during the Depression, it revived again in the 1960s when women again began to emerge amidst the political arena. Their presence has made its mark in the evolution of the American stage as they now take their place in world culture and performative history. This project on women in performance serves the need for sadly neglected scholarship on the contributions of underrepresented groups in American theatre and education, in cultural studies and the humanities, and in American and world history.

Elizabeth C. Ram rez is Director of Theatre and the Fine Arts Department at St. Philip's College. She is author of Footlights Across the Border: A History of Spanish- language Professional Theatre and numerous articles and reviews on Chicana/Chicano/Latina/Latino theatre and multiculturalism and diversity in performance and in higher education. She has also served as dramaturg for Anne Bogart, Andrei Serban, David Wheeler, Ed Call, and Gary Gisselman, and most recently Jim Edmundson for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's production of Blood Wedding.