On May 19, 2016, Jorge Merced, Associate Artistic Dirctor of New York’s Pregones Theatre, will present a workshop on using literary and non-literary texts as inspiration and raw material for theater. The workshop will be presented in partnership with Tucson’s Borderlands Theater and feature an introduction by Milta Ortiz.

RE-CREATIONS: Mapping the road from the page to the stage

A workshop with Jorge Merced | Taller bilingüe de teatro con Jorge Merced
With an introduction by playwright Milta Ortiz

Thursday, May 19th
5:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Tucson Museum of Art
Education Center Auditorium
140 N Main Ave, Tucson, AZ 85701
Cost: $10

Join theatre professional Jorge Merced of Pregones Theater in a workshop that provides a creative primer on the art of adaptations. Participants learn to think of both literary and non-literary texts as inspiration and raw material for theater! The evening includes illustrative examples from the ensemble’s existing original repertory and hands-on exercises using said text as a springboard for new interpretations.

Acompáñenos a un taller de teatro con Jorge Merced, artista y Director Asociado del Teatro Pregones. El taller proveerá estrategias para el arte de hacer adaptaciones. Los participantes aprenderán a destilar inspiración de textos literarios y no-literarios como material teatral.

This bilingual workshop is presented in both English and Spanish. Taller bilingüe en español e inglés.

Register

Workshop size is limited to 20 participants. Advance registration is required.

About Jorge Merced

Jorge Merced is the Associate Artistic Director of Pregones Theater, and a company member since 1987. He is a graduate of City College-CUNY, and also studied at the Alvin Ailey School and EITALC (Cuba). Awards include numerous NY ACE and HOLA distinctions for outstanding performance and direction, El Diario/La Prensa’s EL Award, and the LP21 Maestro Award, among others. Jorge is currently a board member for the National Center for Creative Aging and has been instrumental in the development of the new Creative Caregiving Initiative.

About Milta Ortiz 

Milta Ortiz is a playwright raised in the Bay Area, currently in Tucson by way of Chicago. As a National New Play Network playwright in residence at Borderlands Theater for the 2013/14 season, she wrote and developed Más, which premiered at Borderlands Theater September, 2015. That same year, Más was selected to the Latino Theater Commons Carnaval play festival, nominated for an American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award and Citations, a Tucson Mac award for best drama and co-produced by Laney College in March 2016 and Ubuntu Theater Project in May 2016. Plays include the 19th Annual A Tucson Pastorela produced December 2015, Disengaged, a TYA play commissioned by Rising Youth Theater, premiered at the Phoenix Center for the Arts in 2014, the 18th Annual A Tucson Pastorela produced December 2013, You, Me and Tuno, a finalist in NYC’s Downtown Urban Theater Festival, 2013. Fleeing Blue won the 2012 Wichita State playwriting contest and a university production in 2012. Last of the Lilac Roses was a runner up finalists at Repertorio Español, Nuestra’s Voces play contest 2011. She earned an MFA from Northwestern University’s Writing for the Screen and Stage program and a Creative Writing BA from San Francisco State University. She received two City of Oakland Cultural Arts grants and a Zellerbach Family Foundation award to write and perform her solo work in the Bay Area. In 2016 she was awarded an Arizona Commission on the Arts Artist Research and Development Grant. Ortiz is a member of sheworXX theater making collaborative and her day job is Marketing & Outreach Director at Borderlands Theater. She’s worked as a teaching artist for over 6 years and occasionally moonlights as such. She is proud to be mom to a bubbly toddler.

Borderlands Theater is a professional theater company recognized nationally and internationally for the development and production of theater and educational programs that reflect the diverse voices of the U.S./ Mexico border region. Although focusing on the Latino/Chicano/Mexicano voice as the core voice to nurture and support, Borderlands works interactively with all voices of the region. The “border,” both as physical and social landscape, is a metaphor for Borderlands’ work. The metaphor allows, invites and even demands, both a regional and an international understanding of what it represents. Border people, in the best sense of the word, are citizens of the world.

Tucson Museum of Art encompasses an entire city block in historic downtown, and features original and traveling exhibitions focusing on Art of Latin America, Art of the American West, Modern and Contemporary Art and Asian Art as well as tours, education programs, studio art classes, and Museum Store to delight and educate visitors. The Tucson Museum of Art serves the city and surrounding regions and is committed to broadening public access to the arts, enriching daily life.


Banner Photos (left to right): Jorge Merced, photo courtesy of Mr. Merced. Scene from Mas by Milta Ortiz, Directed by Marc David Pinate. Pictured: Nicolas Valdez, Daymeon Rembert, Eliza Butler, Angelina Duarte-Cooper.

This program is supported through a grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

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