The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Announces

Three Plays for Teatro Salon Table Reading Series

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Theater Arts Program announces three scripts by San Antonio playwrights that will be read during the Teatro Salon Table Reading Series this coming fall 2024. The three scripts that were selected are “Pass It On” by Amalia Ortiz, “Las Comadres de Morales Street” by Irene Chavez and “El Monstro” A Play with Music by Patricia Zamora. The public will have an opportunity to enjoy these unproduced scripts that each will have a director, actors and rehearsals. Readings will take place at the Guadalupe Latino Bookstore, 1300 Guadalupe St., San Antonio TX 78207 with free admission.

“Pass It On” by Amalia Ortiz will be read on November 16, 2024 at 3:00pm. “Pass It On” is about a middle-class family of Chicanx women living in the borderlands trying to reconcile modern life with superstitions passed down for generations. The excitement surrounding a chain letter sends a family into a tailspin affecting them for years to come. This play asks audiences to consider what cultural traditions we pass on, and how familias show up to support each other. 

Amalia Ortiz is a Tejana spoken word performer, playwright, and author of 2 award-winning books of poetry. She was awarded the 2020 American Book Award for Oral Literature and appeared on three seasons of Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry on HBO and the NAACP Image Awards on FOX. She was awarded a City of San Antonio Individual Artist Grant and most recently, her band, Las Hijas de la Madre, were awarded a Democratizing Racial Justice Artist Residency from the Mellon Foundation to complete their new project Diatribas Punk. Amalia received her MFA in Creative Writing from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

“Las Comadres de Morales Street” by Irene Chavez is scheduled for November 20 at 7:00pm. “Las Comadres de Morales Street” is about the impacts of Covid, gentrification and disinvestment in San Antonio’s Westside community. The play was created as a result of Irene’s work with Seniors in Play, a nonprofit organization whose programming encourages seniors to tell their stories and take the stage. As a result, the comadres Doña Juana and Doña Carmen are the main characters and are the reflections of strong women within the Mexican-American families living in the Westside.  The character of Don Julio, who is a Vietnam Veteran is inspired from the connection to the Edgewood ISD District Veterans Group. They have the distinction of being the school district who sacrificed the most during that war (53 gave their lives) which is not reflected in any history book. It was important to acknowledge this living history and the aftermath of it. The character of Richard is the embodiment of the Chicano youth not promised a future. Characters Izzy and Luz are representatives of the younger generation coming back into the neighborhood trying to balance the gig economy and impending gentrification. They are reflections of our gente who are guided by their sense of belonging in the community while struggling to define themselves and what success is.

Irene Chavez is a playwright, poet, and actor. She is a 2022 fellow of Artists At Work (AAW) ; THE OFFICE performing arts + film’s workforce resilience program designed to support communities through artistic civic engagement. As part of the fellowship, she wrote Las Comadres de Morales Street inspired from her work with Tony Plana’s Seniors in Play. The play was selected by Teatro Audaz for a staged reading as part of their 2024 Nuestras Historias series. Two of her short plays, including 2nd Date were featured in the Jump-Start Theater’s Screaming into the Void Theatre Festival in 2023 & 2024. Her one act play, Las Cochinas Christmas was featured in the 2016 Teatro Salon at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Irene has performed in productions at the Jump Start Theater and Guadalupe Theater (Chato’s Bridge, Petra’s Pecado, etc.). She graduated with her MBA from St. Mary’s University.

“El Monstro” A Play with Music by Patricia Zamora was selected for a reading on December 21, 2024 at 3:00pm. In September of 1921, a flood devastated San Antonio, damaging not only the downtown area but destroying the colonias on the Westside, killing nearly 80 people. El Monstro is a San Antonio historical tragedy. Flavio and Petra came to the United States to escape the Revolution. Amelia and Javier are in love and he wants to take her away from the toil of her job as a pecan sheller. Lupita and her family are struggling migrant workers. Catarina volunteers with the Cruz Azul to help the Mexicanos in any way she can and Jose sells newspapers to earn money to help him win back his family name. Each of them are deeply impacted by a massive natural disaster that destroys their lives and reveals a blatant disregard for infrastructure in their community due to racism. Fast forward to the Chicano Activism of 1974 and their fight to reverse the generational trauma that exists because of the magnitude of racial inequality.

Patricia Zamora is an actor, playwright, author and screenwriter. Her works include The Chismosa Mysteries, Un Nuevo Capitulo: An American Novela, and The Devil’s Mare. She is best known for her solo show Curanderas & Chocolate: Cuentos of a Latina Life and for playing the role of Silvia in the popular play Las Nuevas Tamaleras. A 2023 Public Theatre of SA SoTex Playwright, she holds a BA in theater form St. Edward’s University and a master’s degree from the University of Texas Pan American. Her recent play with music, El Monstro was a featured staged reading at the 2024 Austin Latinx New Play Festival Plays en Proceso. Patricia’s writing is a homage to her ancestors and a celebration of her culture. Look for Patricia’s piece “The Sandia” in Somos Tejanas! Chicano Identity and Culture, to be released in 2025 by University of Texas Press. Visit patriciazamora.net for more about her projects. 

“We are very excited that we have selected these three unproduced scripts for our Teatro Salon Table Reading Series 2024,” according to Jorge Piña Guadalupe Theater Arts Director. “Our last series was presented right before the COVID-19 epidemic.” Immediately after each reading, the playwrights will have the opportunity to receive valuable feedback from the public and established teatristas to help with future script development.

The GCAC Theater Arts Teatro Salon Table Reading Series is made possible through generous grants from The City of San Antonio Department of Arts and Culture, National Latino Theater Initiatives, The San Antonio Area Foundation and Texas Commission on the Arts.

For more information, please go to www.guadalupeculturalarts.org, call (210) 271-3151 or contact Jorge Piña, Theater Arts Director at jorgep@guadalupeculturalarts.org.

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