 Good morning everyone. Good morning. Good morning. We're here. We're here Okay, my name is Abigail Vega and I'm the producer of the Latinx theater commons Welcome to the 2018 LTC carnival of new Latinx work Wow, we're here We are so thrilled that all of you are here with us this morning and are spending a part of your valuable summer with us We want to start today by acknowledging the occupied land We are standing on and to do that. I am pleased to welcome Lucas Garcia to the stage Lucas is a Chicago based playwright artist and arts writer one of our fantastic Carnival dramaturgs and an Alta host committee member Please join me in welcoming them to the stage. Good morning, everyone. How do we feel today? Good I'm so happy to see you all here, and I'm so so excited for you all to see all the things that we've been cooking up It's been we have some incredible teams, and I'm so excited for you all to join us. Finally We get to put up what we've been bearing down on I apologize. This will be in English Just so you know a little bit about me my name is Lucas the Dionysio Garcia That's my grandfather's name, which is why I trip over it a little bit, and I'm from Albuquerque, New Mexico I've lived in Chicago. Hello I've lived in Chicago for about three years And I'm deeply grateful to all the people who were waiting for me when I arrived because without them It would be a very different Lucas who's standing up here I've brought with me a few items That I use in my own spiritual practice to help me out today, and I'd like to share them with you I Have white sage that I use during a process where I was Interviewing the elders of my family about my grandparents Who I did not get a chance to know I'm gonna put it on the floor. I have dirt from the Santuario in Chimayo in New Mexico It's a place with a complicated history, and I traveled there when I was younger in pilgrimage I have an alebrije of a roadrunner state bird of New Mexico It's a bird that's been sort of a constant presence in my life and who I hold as a guardian and a companion I also have a pine cone which was given to me by my mother She sends me one or two every once in a while, and I'm not really sure why But I love her very much and so I keep them I'm sure many of you have attended conferences and gatherings that have been opened with the land acknowledgment For those of us who have not It was important to Alta and the LTC that we demonstrate our solidarity with indigenous people on this land This continent and around the world and that we hold the reality of indigenous life and stewardship in our minds and hearts as we do the work we do Being Latinx is complicated our shared history of colonization and imperialism and migration has created a rich and deep cultural well full of joy beauty pain and violence Many of us have indigenous roots from up and down the land on this side of the planet Many of us have reached out to our ancestors Visited our ancestral lands and have a practice of stewardship healing and spirituality. I Say this not to create divisions and tears of Latinidad But to recognize the history and the energy that is in this room today Grappling with what it means to be Latinx in these United States on this occupied land is unique for every person and It is my sincere belief that there's room enough for all of us to be on those journeys my people are not from this land that we're standing on and Because of that I cannot welcome you here because it's not my land to welcome you to I Would not presume to do so in the stead of up someone who can I Offer this practice and these Acknowledgements to all of you as a way of remembering listening and loving so everything Coming after this is an invitation and it's open and you can feel free to participate or not But it would mean so much to me if you did But it's up to you. I invite you to take a deep breath or two and To close your eyes if you wish if you have the consent of the people next to you Please feel free to hold each other's hands To hug each other or to lean against one another softness care and tenderness are also resistance Call to mind your ancestors Your elders the people who make you feel courageous who move you to work who inspire you to be open Imagine their face their hair their eyes Remember the way they make you feel Breathe into the openness and abundance within yourself and invite the sky to fill you We acknowledge the land on which we stand and the peoples who have lived and still live here Despite the brutality of colonialism and white supremacy We acknowledge the life voice and struggle of indigenous people across this continent and throughout the world especially those who are fighting for environmental and social justice The land on which we work and many of us live has been stolen from its original peoples and Traditional stewards the Miami the Illinois the Peoria and the Potawatomi We are creating performing and working on stolen land and in the midst of ongoing injustice We acknowledge the enduring connection that indigenous people have to their ancestral territories and Strive to continue to foster enduring relationships within our local communities There is much beauty and joy in this city and there is also much struggle We acknowledge the space in which we do this work and The forces of racism and classism that fuel gentrification and displacement Uphold white supremacy and enforce its systems We give thanks for the life and journeys of our queer indigenous and immigrant ancestors and elders and Hold their names and faces in our hearts We give thanks to all who have come before us who have lived and loved and fought for peace justice and freedom We give thanks for the joyful resistance happening right now all across the city and in our home communities in Convening here with our many varied backgrounds and experiences It is my sincere hope that our collective energy vibrates along the connections we form and Moves in all of us a feeling of courageous unity There is work to be done. Thank you for doing this with me. Thank you so much Lucas What a beautiful way to enter this space My energy is very different welcome Welcome to Chicago welcome to this space. We are so glad you're here. My name is Lisa Portes. I had the directing program here Thank you I Had the directing program here at the beautiful theater school at DePaul University And I serve as champion of the LTC carnival of new Latinx work First a few words about the LTC for those of you who don't know the LTC stands for the Latinx theater commons For those of you who don't know Latinx is the term for men women trans and non-binary people of Latin American descent And we are a commons. That means we are a virtual digital and actual public square By being part of this event You are a member of the commons If you go to our Facebook page read an article on our digital platform capa onda comment on our website You are a member of the commons Truly anyone with anything to say or do I gotta keep looking down anything to say or do in relation to Latinx theater Who chooses to use this public square is a member of the commons? The commons uses a horizontal rather than a vertical power structure There is no artistic director president CEO executive anybody anybody we are run by a steering committee of 60 Latinx theater makers from around the country who volunteer Their time and minds to advocate for Latinx theater as central to the American theater Our work is facilitated by our LTC producer the unstoppable Abigail Vega My title is champion of the LTC carnival Each of our events has a champion or co-champions the champion serves as the kind of lightning rod for the event But there's a whole lot more people involved. Let me show you how this works If you are a member of the carnival selection committee, would you please stand up? I Know we've got some Don't hold your applause hold your applause hold your applause because this is gonna go on if you are a member of the Carnival Outreach Committee, please stand up outreach. That's you Diane outreach. Yes, Daniel If you're a member of the carnival programming committee, please stand up Programming yes, and can we get house to half? Can we get half? Thanks Carnival program committee, please stand up resource generation. Please stand up resource Jen carnival host committee. Please stand up If you're Abigail Vega, please stand up Okay, all these LTC folks along with their colleagues who you'll see lifted in the program are involved in creating the carnival But stay standing. There's more we got to bring up our producing partners If you're a member of Alta the Alliance of Latina X theater artists in Chicago, please stand up What about that revista if you're that revista, please stand up That's right. If you're a member of the theater school including our carnival staff and volunteers and deans, please stand up And stay standing now. Let's now include our partner theaters. If you're a member of urban theater company, please stand up Agi hon, please stand up Lata the Chicago Latina Theater Alliance, please stand up stand then Victory Gardens Theater, please stand up Steppenwolf Theater, please stand up if you're one of our Latina Diosa casting directors and you're here right now, please stand up Not yet. Okay. If you're a member of the carnival advisory board, we thank you and please stand up and if you're watching we thank you And if you're with HowlRound by God, please stand up And finally if you are here because you're excited and curious about Latina X theater, please stand up Look at you You are all the people who have made carnival happen turn around wave at the camera. We're live on HowlRound Please stay standing for one more minute Imagine a silver thread connecting all of you to one another and to our friends watching at home That's the commons Have a seat Now of course none of this would be possible without the generosity of our partners the Chicago community trust the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation the Field Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, you know The longer I'm in this field the more I'm filled with admiration Wonder and gratitude for the progressiveness and advocacy of our funding community. Thank you Let's give them a plus plus for them Now none of us would be here if we didn't want to get to know some artists So if you're a cardin of all playwright, will you please stand up? If you are Director if you're a director, please stand up. I see you Dramaturg Dramaturg, please stand up Designers designers, please stand up at this astonishing wealth of talent and more to come don't sit down yet There's more to come This is only a portion of the actors that you'll see the rest you'll see in the readings themselves But this is an astonishing wealth of talent turn around wave to the camera. We're live on HowlRound And again before sitting, please imagine a silver thread connecting all of these artists to one another and All of them to each of you and you to them Have a seat The theme of this year's carnival is Connexion and our very thoughtful and playful programming committee put their minds to creating opportunities to forge Meaningful connections beyond the standard speed dating or drink at the bar Although the drink at the bar is pretty awesome and there'll be plenty of those In your bags, and I'm gonna tell you about some of these in your bags You'll find a little red booklet and of course you picked up some stickers at the front desk Now I'm not gonna tell you about that connexion opportunity because Kevin Becerra and Diane Rodriguez are gonna tell you about it in Just a minute, but on your land or on your lanyard, you'll find a handy jump drive See jump drive You got it that jump drive has the 25 carnival finalist plays including the six you'll hear this weekend It also has bios for all participants Actor bios a digital copy of the program. Listen, you don't need to Google anybody You've got all the information right here It also has a digital copy of the welcome packet in case you didn't pick one up at registration and need to find a restaurant or you get lost After each reading you'll have the opportunity to get to know the artists in our artist talks during which the Dramaturgs will interview the playwrights and the directors will lead the designers in a conversation about how they might approach the play On the back of your name tags. You'll see you have an airline. Yes, an airline. Yes, you have to make your connexion Thank you so much. That was very generous of you Your airline signifies your small group and you'll have the opportunity to make your first series of new connections at lunch today We're providing box lunches for you where you can meet with your small group and Then on Saturday you and your small group are going to engage in a mystery challenge together and I'm not telling you about that challenge yet because It's a mystery on Saturday morning You have the opportunity to connect with some of the pillars of Chicago's vibrant Latinx theater making community When you go to one of the following also on the back of your name tag urban theater company and the Puerto Rican neighborhood of Humboldt Park Aguijón theater in the Peruvian Mexican and mixed Latinx neighborhood of Belmont, Criggan The Chicago Latino theater Alliance or Clota at the National Museum of Mexican art in Pilsen and The Atrovista which is a Latinx island here in Lincoln Park Following each visit you'll have an amazing lunch at a local restaurant on us and of course We have three evenings full of fun together So we hope that each of you will take advantage of the many opportunities available to forge meaningful new connections with folks you haven't yet met and Deepen your connections with those you know and love Because my friends these are dark times This administration has communicated loud and clear its hatred and contempt towards Latinx people Towards Latin American people Towards people of color in general Towards the LGBTQ plus community and the differently abled community as well as I heard lately the Canadians I mean who hates Canadians and Apparently the only people they do like are the Russians But all joking aside this administration gains its power and Creates its danger by fomenting and feeding a sense of hopelessness a Sense that there's not enough to go around a sense of deep division We defy this administration with a spirit of celebration of Abundance and of connection. We are all one another's keepers my friends We are all connected and we are all citizens of these great Americas Thank you, and now I'd like to bring to this stage my friend and colleague and renowned lighting designer The Dean of the theater school at DePaul University John Colbert Thank You Lisa Hey, and in case you couldn't tell Lisa is passionate Passionate passionate about life passionate about theater. She's articulate both verbally and through action About the power of theater to tell critical stories that should and will change our world So Lisa, thank you for sharing that passion with the theater school with our students with all of us with With the Carnival and with the world So welcome to our theater here and welcome to our home Last time you were here with us in 2015. This building was brand new Happily we've dinged it up a bit in the meantime Which makes it feel a little more theatrical it has stories to tell and Like the story of the pipe that burst on the Christmas night when nobody was here to discover it for a while But that's a story for another time We've learned a lot about the impact of this building on our school our students and ourselves in those few years first when you walk in the door of the building and you first get a sense of the integrity and beauty That comes from a very purpose-built very specialized building like like a barn or a steel mill or a concert hall You get the feeling that they take this enterprise seriously here and We do and that enterprise here is the making of theater artists We know we are privileged to have the kind of support this enterprise requires Support from DePaul support from the philanthropic community Support from alums support from the theater community and the theater profession Support from our students and their families and with privilege as always comes responsibility And we take that seriously as well so next This building makes time And the fact that we had the opportunity to design a building that has spaces in it and support within it that actually Supports the crazy things we do here every day as a theater school Means that our faculty staff and students spend more time on things that matter than we used to so that my in my experience as an administrator Time is the most difficult resource to come up with money. You can always figure out one way or another time You can't I don't know how to do that So so the fact that the building is is allows us to spend time more time on things that matter It's really been important to us And also the building enables us to have you here to do the work that you do So I want to say something about why that's important to us So I'd like to read a statement that the community the theater school community created in an effort to define ourselves We call it our diversity action statement The theater school is committed to fostering and nurturing the reality of who people are Who they have been and who they want to be? We embrace the diversity of what we see What we hear and what we feel? We give voice We represent people and ideas Our community engages in lively exploration between and beyond categories of race ethnicity gender sexuality class religion nationality ability and artistic discipline We examine appreciate and share the complexities of culture to artistic collaboration and by doing so Create a safe and supportive environment for our students faculty staff audience and visitors So the work that you do this convening of a teen X theater artists from around the country and The development of new voices and new plays Could not be more relevant to the goals of the theater school and our dreams and plans For our students as they go on to create our future Finally I wouldn't be doing my job as dean if I didn't tell you about some of the new things that we're excited about here at the theater school We're starting a comedy arts program. That will be an adventure for sure We're starting a projection design program Yeah Great if you know anybody who's interested send them our way There aren't very many. It's a BFA projection design program. There aren't very many in the country So so we're excited to be offering that We're also starting a summer high school theater program that will use Chicago as a classroom and will also Represent the values of the theater school to that generation of theater artists And we started a production series called prototypes. It's got completely student-managed student-implemented student Orchestrated production series. It will be part of our season and it will enable students on our productions to work in in Cross-disciplinary ways and to encourage entrepreneurial exploration, which is what they'll do when they get out of here. So we're This week it's been a real pleasure to feel the the heat of creative energy as your teams worked on productions in this building and And and you combine that with the energy that of all of you being here this morning and that is truly inspiring So on behalf of the entire theater school community, thank you for being here Thank you to Teatro Vista, Alta and all who work so hard to make this happen all of you here in this room and So thank you for commitment to the T-next work in our theaters new work in our theaters and underrepresented voices in our theaters Have a great carnival And now I'd like to welcome to this to the podium here I'd like to introduce Nancy Garcia loza and Lucas Garcia host committee members This is gonna be cute Imagine a thread All right Welcome On behalf of the Alliance of Latinx theater artists of Chicago We are so excited that kind of our 2018 has arrived We're thrilled to see you here in Chicago and pleased you'll be joining us for an incredible weekend of community building Celebration and to experience the amazing talents that have been assembled Alta was founded in 2010 by Tania Saracho As a way of building connections both professional and personal for Latinx theater artists and makers Alta exists to be a nexus for the thriving landscape of Latinx theater artists in Chicago and area We are a volunteering organization Dedicated to furthering the Chicago Latinx theater movement by promoting educating Representing and unifying Latinx identified artists and their allies We are so proud to announce the first ever Alta Awards to be held on October 8th at Victory Gardens theater The Alta Awards will be a community celebration of the achievements of Chicago and Latinx theater artists and makers with over 240 members Alta seeks to leverage the collective investment of its membership to recognize and uplift the Contributions of their peers to the ever-evolving landscape of Latinx theater As you may already know the Alliance of Latinx theater artists for Alta for short has been working very hard With the LTC to prepare for this convening and we have a wonderful night planned for you tonight at Victory Gardens Noche Victoria will feature incredible local artists including Melissa Dupree Gabriel Ruiz Marvin Quijada the fabulous Micha Michelle Rodriguez Hasmine Cardenas The incredible Thamellenin Albany Park Theater Project with a piece written by her own Isaac Gomez Our host committee members all have a red flowered border along the bottom of our badges And we will have volunteers present throughout this weekend if you have any questions or if you need some direction If you just want to talk Please feel free to come ask us In an effort to help you find us Easier if the if the members of the Alta host committee and the Alta host volunteers if you can please stand up I know we've been doing a lot of that, but if you can just stand up and just give us a wave everyone look around you If you see any of us around ask us all the things Talk to us. Whatever that is. We're here to welcome you and to help you have a really excellent time this weekend And thank you to all of our volunteers Our core team and to everyone helping to make this year's carnival a success. Thank you Hello, everyone It's so great to see you in Chicago My name is Isaac Gomez. I am a Chicago based playwright and thank you and I have the unique honor of standing beside two fierce Colleagues mentors and most importantly friends of mine Lisa Portes and Chris as evil who will speak very specifically about Their individual contributions to what we collectively call ourselves the triple D's of curation which Which is dramaturgy directors and designers A couple of a couple of quick things before before I talk a bit about my section I want to add just a tiny couple of things to the beautiful words that Nancy and Lucas shared about the importance of Alta In that just some really key facts for those who don't know this We are you know a 100% volunteer run organization Who contributes anywhere from 20 to 60 hours a week to ensure that Chicago's Latinx theater artists and communities are supported And are connected in the various capacities. I mean And they're a really robust membership program that has been hugely contributed Facilitated and created by our very own Hannah Gomez who's a Chicago based actor Who's phenomenal and so if you are interested in Finding a way to create a regional alliance for yourself something that has been a huge point of family and support For Chicago's Latinx theater community, please feel free to find us and we're more than happy to share our thoughts our Obstacles were really transparent about the growing pains that Alta has had to overcome over the last 1012 was it 2010. Oh just kidding eight years And so and so you know feel free to do that So though I am based in Chicago I'm originally from the border from El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico And I carry much of that in and who I am as a perpetually displaced person never here never there always everywhere being from the border and With that speaking a bit to The selection process when it came to carnaval for those who don't know we had 130 plays submitted for this festival and The volunteer selection committee of 15 readers who furious every play was read at least twice Every time it moved up a level in the selection process, which there were four It was read two additional times by two new readers So by the time we got to the final the sort of finalists of 25 24 All of those plays were read by all 15 of us for those who don't know in my past life before I Transitioned to being a full-time playwright. I was the director of new play development at victory gardens theater for five seasons there and a big sort of Culture shock for me in my experiences of navigating predominantly white spaces Especially in national theater convenings was that I was one of maybe 23 at max four at any given point director of new play development of color in the country And in terms of a Latinx identified person one of probably two at one point when Lydia Garcia Facilitated her beautiful work at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and carved a lot of space for many writers here today and With that and in serving on panels, and I'm not saying that as like a go us I want to paint a very clear picture for you about cultural context and competency when it comes to selection and curation of work, okay Here's the reality For the most Latinx identified playwrights whether or not they're aware of it themselves Most of our plays and I know I'm speaking very generally and broadly here, but I'm telling you I've read a lot Like in the hundreds so my my my qualitative measurements feel appropriate in this moment in that do not follow Aristotle's poetics. They just don't so you in most plays you won't find you're typically standard Introducing plot point rising action climax following action model and for those who are not used to reading plays outside of that That structure it can be a challenge to access that play I have set in selection panels with colleagues of mine whom I have dear admiration and respect for who will Want to dismiss a play because it quote-unquote lacks They're not dramaturgically sound and Where I ask my colleagues in the room today and where I hope to hold you accountable especially now as as a as an artist and not necessarily as someone who facilitates new play development as as my profession is To critically ask yourself why if you're feeling a certain way about a play ask yourself why and I'm here to tell you and when it comes to taste the rigor of the selection pool was Phenomenal these are some of the in my opinion some of the best most prolific playwrights in the country You know not just the six that are featured this weekend But the hundred and thirty that submitted their work because they were writing from a place that most people have never Experienced before and even for me painful new awareness is in the place that I had been reading and in the conversations with the 15 of us Complete awe and admiration For the stories that were being told it was a hard selection process When we came down to the final 10 or 12 it was brutal It was painful because there were so many and And it's a painful reality that carnaval has to even exist to say Here's here's a here's a plate for you, right? And so I encourage you to get to know the writers who are in the city this weekend I encourage you to have coffee with them I encourage you to reach out to them and to find a time and an opportunity To connect in a way that perhaps you have yet to and to find meet the writer where they are That's been my key dramaturgical philosophy in my brief But I think pretty successful career when I was at victory gardens meet the writer where they are Amplify the story they want to tell instead of trying to tell it for them, right? That's such a huge huge key point when it comes to new play development and that was a key selection process for us Where is the what is the writer trying to do? How successful are they at doing that? Is this a story? We haven't heard before how excited are we by these stories, right? There's such a breath of experience in the multiplicities of what it means to be Latinx It is unfair to say that the six plays occupy those identities in all its multiplicities But I can say they occupy some and they're beautiful and they're nuanced and they're complex And they're beyond the narratives that we are traditionally seeing on Television and film and theater that occupy the also somewhat relative, but you know in all transparency Over-exhausted stereotypes like the immigrant the maid the criminal Thus someone who doesn't speak English. There's Latinx Millennials. There's mixed-race Latinx. There's offer Latinx They're queer Latinx. There's a multiplicity of what it means to be who we are And I hope you get a sample of what that looks like today Or this weekend when it comes to dramaturgy curation. That was a big part of my Sort of thought and facilitation process of trying to pair the writers with the dramaturgs of whom I Severe subjectively felt could meet the writer where they were and hilariously enough The majority of the dramaturgs are also writers and their own right in vain in a different capacity Whether it's in playwriting in poetry or in scholarship Why because a writer knows what a writer needs and a writer can meet them where they are without that barrier Every single dramaturg that you'll see is Latinx and even to this day I still get an email every now and then saying Isaac you're the only Latinx dramaturg Can you can you come to this part of the country and dramaturg this show for us? And I very kindly say actually here's a whole list. There's a lot. There are so many of us It's about redefining what it means to be a dramaturg It's not about holding a bachelor masters or PhD degree as proud as I am of my colleagues who hold those Identities it's about being able to have that cultural context To meet the writer where they are To amplify the story that the writer is already trying to tell and to be a champion in every sense of the word That's what it means to be a dramaturg and every single dramaturg that was paired with every writer this weekend All six of them are some of the fiercest champions Advocates and support of new work that I have ever had the pleasure of working with As you experience the place this week and I want to remind you that To help the Latinx theater community means to help us live in a place of abundance versus scarcity As you continue to go back to your home theaters, whether they're theaters of color or predominantly white institutions ask your staff ask your artistic leadership Does there have to only be one? How we're in what way can we find more opportunities to tell the multiplicities of who we are we occupy an Overwhelming majority of people in this country yet are severely underrepresented in theater in television and film I ask my colleagues a charge I give my fellow gatekeepers Help us make that change help us see ourselves on your stages Help us tell our stories in our way Thank you so much Thank You Isaac Good afternoon everyone. My name is Christopher a sebo. I'm the associate artistic director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and I had the great honor to curate the designer component of this week's carnival Inclusion can be difficult Especially when you have the breath of an extraordinary community of Latinx designers to invite as Participants in the Latino theater commons carnival of new Latinx work Our challenge was to put together a group of artists that showed a fraction of that breath Looking at gender age Regionalism as well as new emerging artists and veterans in the field Then assign those designers to teams working with directors actors and dramaturgs over the course of a week to support a writer's new play This group emerged to participate as the first LTC carnival designer cohort But so many essential artists were not able to be included in this round Many of those designers are in this space as we speak But the vision was to bring together these working designers into a new play development process to engage Share react imagined and build relationships with new colleagues Many of these designers I have known or admired for years Some recently came into my view Some as recently as last night But they all share a deep passion for collaboration in an art form that demands either Visualizing or creating sound in support of whatever event we're putting together But what emerges with these artists who identify within the concept the vast scope of what it means to be Latinx Is a very powerful question How do we or how do the politics of who we are inform the aesthetics? in our art form Especially during what feels like being in the midst of battle the Latinx theater comments and this carnival of new Latinx work and the encuentros in Los Angeles as well as all the other regional gatherings Show us how crucial it is to be in conversations Not just with the work that we are creating but also with the world in which we are living in and what it means to be Latinx theater artists in this 21st century America So with intention these 12 artists in four disciplines are here to show the impact of that Aesthetic and it has been an honor to be asked to curate this cohort What I observe in these artists work is a sense of exploring shifting ground and conflicts within space and style Sounds of in America that battle and then attempt to find peace and Ultimately a deep pride and joy to work on plays that speak to our lives To our histories and to our communities. Thank you very much In curating directors for the for a new play festival the first consideration is of course the play For each play you're looking to find a director whose artistic soul aligns with the soul of the play Not necessarily the playwright actually but with the play although one hopes right But the play itself. I'll never forget Shirley Fishman direct dramaturg at the La Jolla playhouse saying to me once I love the playwright But I love the play Moa Within the context of the carnival, of course We sought to amplify the voices of six Latinx directors knowing as Chris mentioned that they're just the tip of the iceberg When it comes to terrific Latinx directors around the country Beyond beyond that we wanted to represent geographically we've got East Coast West Coast and Central region We wanted to uplift gender parity and create a mix of directors who are up and coming into the field and those who've been at it for a while But like I said these six terrific directors represent a much larger population of talented Latinx directors Across our nation, you know I recently represented SDC at a Lord pre-conference on equity and hiring and in my small You know we do small group discussions in my small group discussion one person said very frankly and I appreciate frankness That hiring has to do with comfort People hire based on comfort And that then we find ourselves in ruts of comfort And that's how directors of color end up making up just 15% of the total directors hired in Lord theaters nationwide over the last five seasons This is all directors of color Latin Latin that's all directors of color Latinx African-American Asian-American indigenous Latinx directors make up about 4% 15% directors of color hired in Lord theaters nationwide over the last five seasons That means hiring is 85% white And incidentally according to USA the Design Union Designers of color make up just 13% of all designers hired and I can just imagine what it's like for dramaturgs of color Comfort So I guess my hope would be that we all take advantage of opportunities like this one to expand our circles of comfort Or perhaps just leap out of our comfort zones and come to know one another Because like I said and my colleagues Chris and Isaac have said these six Latinx directors Six Latinx dramaturgs and 12 Latinx designers are just a small sample of the talent that's out there And now I'd like to bring to the stage Kevin Becerra and Diane Rodriguez who will tell you a little bit about those little red books Hello everybody Hello You know how you all have a Thea who comes to family parties loaded with prizes and games And nobody wants to play but she forces you and then you have a really good time but you don't want to admit it Well this is nothing like that This is way more fun, okay So okay we know that in this room there's a wealth of experience and talent and knowledge And we're gathered here in the spirit of hearing new plays and connecting with new colleagues in the field which is so important Our theme Connexion is a call to action It's encouraging us to expand our networks Find new people in the field to champion And hopefully future collaborators Yeah, so we wanted something tangible to kind of help us through this practice Diane just took the script out in front of me It's collaborative, it's fine Thea Diane Don't bust me We wanted something tangible to attract these connections right We didn't want to leave the work to business cards because sure they're lovely and they're so carefully designed Thank you for the aesthetic But they all end up floating around the free tote never to be seen again right So we wanted something that we would be proud to interact with and have fun interacting with So the thought of Connexion and the motif of air travel brought us to the idea of a passport But as we all know documentation has become a very complex and dangerous conversation for so many in our community We wanted something fun right We wanted something that kind of activates the excitement that Lisa feels about her not at all nerdy national park passport Right stamping and marking each trip that she makes And something that brings an intense deeply meaningful emotional connection like my Disneyland autograph book Proving that I met Cinderella at a very young age So okay all of you have your red books right Okay let's see them, let's see them, let's see them Okay cool cool alright so Now look at them and then you'll see that there's a lot of blank pages broken into fours So at registration then you selected your stickers that best represent you in your in the theater ecosystem And I know that was a really I just want to name I know that was a hard process for many of you to choose the one sticker But if for the sake of the game and the sake of the weekend Thank you for doing it it's going to make it easier I promise So the way this is going to work is that as you meet someone as you make your Connexion You'll put their sticker in the little quadrant and you'll write you'll have the person write their name and a way to contact them Right so maybe it's an email address maybe it's like a really cool Twitter handle or their Insta But some way that that's easy to follow up with them And if the ritual of having a new friend write their name in your booklet isn't quite enough inspiration for you There is a super cool super secret mystery prize That will be given to those on Saturday night who have filled out their all-pass with stickers of Connexion So so we really encourage you to play with us But this is also an opportunity to really name what we commit to by being in this room So and as the commons we gather to share our energy and our resources towards creating a community Grounded in shared values So in this moment we'd like to speak these commitments into the space where we'll spend so much time over the next few days In the spirit of the commons could we have five volunteers join us on stage bringing with you your all-pass and some stickers Come on up come on up five people Alright so we're going to read the commitments that are in the in the all-pass And we're going to have I'm going to grab a microphone in a minute and then we're going to have Diane kick us off Thank you so much I'll start so at that very first page I'll read the bottom which says the user of this all-pass Transcends borders defies boundaries and welcomes Connexion So as as a participant I commit to Unite around a common purpose to create authentic connections with participating artists theater makers and scholars I do not yet know Respect and reciprocate to honor the time and the space by acknowledging the leaders and artists who have paved the way And have done and continue to do the work around us and commit to mentor others who might look at me for guidance To practice humble learning to admit that there is always room to learn keep an open mind and listen attentively and from a place of generosity Activate my network to use my access and position to propel this movement in a way that is honest and urgent Exercise grateful accountability to act as an agent of grateful accountability by holding organizers and fellow participants accountable for their commitments Thank you so all of you if you agree to these commitments, please say I will Great now. Let's make a connection find a person near you. We're going to call this our a peace be with you moment Yeah, there's Catholics in the house Or former Catholics. All right, so find a person near you and take a moment to swap names contact information and stickers Just take a quick minute to do this And have a great weekend everyone