The Decade of Fornés:
Celebrando Fornés / Celebrating Fornés

The Fornés Institute calls upon Theatres, Colleges, and Universities in the United States to celebrate the life and work of María Irene Fornés (1930-2018), 9-time Obie Award winning playwright, during the Decade of Fornés: Celebrando Fornés/Celebrating Fornés. 

 

Celebrations can take the form of productions, workshops, readings, panels, and curricular implementation, whether in-person or virtual. Each theatre or school will investigate and explore the work of this major American playwright, who has significantly influenced artists of all backgrounds in the U.S. and internationally. The committed theatres or schools will utilize their institutional support networks to program at least one Fornés work and/or event around Fornés’s writing between 2021 and 2030, the centenary of Fornés’s birth.  

 

In addition, each theatre or school, wherever possible, will reach out and make the events accessible to their larger communities to broaden the experience of encountering the work of this extraordinary theatre artist.  

 

Student-led groups and collectives are strongly urged to lead and participate in the creation of this celebration. This National event will increase the visibility of Fornés’s work, which can also lead to greater awareness and support for The Fornés Institute, a growing initiative of the Latinx Theatre Commons, which preserves and archives the legacy of María Irene Fornés as a theatre artist and teacher, through workshops, convenings, and advocacy, and with future plans for a permanent retreat/gathering space/library. 

 

The events of each participating institution will be publicized on The Fornés Institute website and social media platforms, and thus create a vibrant platform for a national dialogue on Fornés’s work.

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Information on upcoming Celebrando Fornés events can be found here.

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Current schools and theaters participating and lead contacts include:

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Arizona State University (Micha Espinosa)

Augsburg University (Beliza Torrez Narváez)

Brown University (Tatyana-Marie Carlo)

CalArts (Marissa Chibás)

Cal State University, Fresno (Gina Sandí-Díaz)

Cal State University, Long Beach (Jeff Janisheski)

Cal State University, Stanislaus (Dr. Stefani Overman-Tsai)

Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Rachel DeSoto-Jackson)

Kent State University (Fabio Polanco)

The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute (Blayze Teicher)

New York University (Gwendolyn Alker)

Princeton University (Brian Herrera)

Southern Methodist University (Stan Wojewodski)

University of California, Los Angeles (Cristina Frías)

University of Illinois Champaign Urbana (Dr. Sandra Ruiz)

University of Massachusetts (Priscilla Page)

University of Miami (Lillian Manzor)

University of Notre Dame (Anne García-Romero)

University of Oregon (Olga Sanchez Saltveit)

University of Redlands (Gabriel Rodriguez)

University of Washington (Maria Cortez Montez)

Yale University (Catherine María Rodríguez)

Breath of Fire Theatre (Sara Guerrero)

50 Playwrights Project (Trevor Boffone)

Sol Project (Brian Herrera)

Odyssey Theatre (Denise Blasor)

East Los Angeles College (Cristina Frías)

MIddlebury College (Olga Sanchez Saltveit)

SUNY Purchase (Andrea Thome, Mariana Garriño)

University of California, San Diego (Jade Power-Sotomayor & Juliana Frey-Méndez)

University of Iowa (Meredith Alexander)

Beyond Women

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For those of you who have engaged in Celebrando Fornés/Celebrating Fornés, we would like to celebrate your work ~ please take a moment to update us about your completed projects and any future plans by filling out this form.