Banner photo: Tina D’Elia as Lupe Vélez Tina D’Elia Weaves Latina Activism into Comedy by Patricia L. Morin The premise of “Overlooked Latinas” is brilliant. Tina D’Elia spotlights the political power of famous 1930s to 50s Latina movie stars in her gripping solo show about Angel, an aspiring lesbian TV writer. As the playwright,…
Larissa Fasthorse Exposes Native American Genocide by Patricia L. Morin “The Thanksgiving Play” is a mind-stretching, satirical “Let’s learn that” tour through the false history of the indigenous people in America. Larissa Fasthorse portrays white Americans as phonies, unable to find a true self, or understand Native American culture. Director Jeanie K. Smith promotes a…
Yasmina Reza Unmasks Ego & Vanity by Barry David Horwitz and Patricia L. Morin Yasmina Reza’s “Art” (1994), translated by Christopher Hampton, took the theater world by storm—it’s a brazen attack on the value of abstract and overvalued paintings. As a French woman playwright, Reza has taken on the art world and male pretensions,…
Gunderson, Smith, Spector Unfold Personal Crisis by Patricia L. Morin Aurora Theatre has come up with an experimental, three-part, audio thriller called “The Flats”—part play and part character study. Three local playwrights and their director have collaborated on a drama centered on the terror of a looming world disaster—akin to what we face…