Join The Public Square at the IHC, Teatro Luna, and the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center for a special performance and conversation with Teatro Luna, Chicago’s only all Latina/Hispana Theater Company. Teatro Luna will present excerpts from its highly-acclaimed new play MACHOS, an interview-based piece that chronicles contemporary masculinities. The performance will be followed by a discussion with the audience. The play is performed in English with a sprinkle of Spanish.
This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required. For more information, call 312.422.5580 or send an e-mail .
A world premiere production, MACHOS is an exploration of modern masculinity, focused on the question: “What are men really thinking?” Performed by Teatro Luna’s all-Latina cast in drag, the play was drawn from interviews with 50 men nationwide and explores the varieties and complexities of male experiences with humor, wit, and straightforwardness. From a young man’s relationship with his correctional officer father to an epic confrontation between fraternity brothers, MACHOS presents a range of true-life stories with Teatro Luna’s trademark humor and unique Latina point of view.
After the performance, Coya Paz, director and developer of MACHOS, and Teatro Luna performers will engage the audience in a question and answer session.
Praise for MACHOS
“The performers’ physical embodiment of the characters makes them truly convincing, and the act of imagination it requires of them and us is healing.” – Chicago Reader
“The performances aim for realism rather than camp….each actress succeeds in creating a believably male version of herself….From the mouth of a woman comes a distillation of a modern man.” – Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune
“ MACHOS hits the mark with an original, well-acted production that blends humor and realism while raising important questions.” – Elena Ferrarin, Daily Herald
About Teatro Luna
Teatro Luna, Chicago’s first and only all-Latina theater, was founded in June 2000 by Coya Paz and Tanya Saracho, with an original ensemble of ten women from diverse Latina/Hispana backgrounds. The company came together because the stories and experiences of Latina/Hispana women were undervalued and underrepresented not only on the Chicago stage, but beyond. In addition to creating and presenting original ensemble work, Teatro Luna has nurtured new plays by emerging Latina/o writers.
About Café Teatro Batey Urbano
This Puerto Rican/Latino youth membership club and internet coffee-house exists with a threefold purpose: a) to showcase the talents of the area’s youth (hip hop, poetry with a purpose, music) and engage them in a continuous dialogue about youth, art, culture and the community; b) to link Puerto Rican/Latino students in the area universities with the community, particularly through publications and performances; and c) to provide a place in which older youth share their creative skills in a process of social ecology with younger people, (i.e. murals, creative writing, web page design, community gardening).
This program is part of The Public Square at the IHC’s Know More: Conversations That Matter series. The Know More series is designed to bridge the gap between the arts and social issues that are of current concern to Chicago’s Englewood and Humboldt Park communities.It is madepossible by a grant from The Joyce Foundation. Programming for Know More has included visits from hip hop scholar Jeff Chang, Africana Studies scholar William Santiago-Valles, journalist Laura Washington, performer Will Power, sociologist Mary Pattillo, storyteller Ramon Lopez, and poet Elizabeth Alexander.