Latinx Theatre Commons

The Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC) is a national movement that uses a commons-based approach to transform the narrative of the American theatre, to amplify the visibility of Latinx performance making, and to champion equity through advocacy, art making, convening, and scholarship.

From 2012 to 2025, the LTC operated as flagship program of HowlRound Theatre Commons, working symbiotically and reciprocally in pursuing field shift with commons-based strategies. In 2025, with full support of HowlRound, the LTC evolved to an exciting new phase of independent operations. Learn more about this transition in the March 2025 announcement, and learn what the LTC is up to now on their new website.

In May 2012, eight Latinx theatremakers, convened by Karen Zacarías, met to reimagine the American Theatre as a space that welcomes and champions the work of Latinx theatre and performance artists. Read more about the launch of the LTC in Anne García-Romero’s article “Latinx Theatre Commons: Updating the US Narrative.” That group expanded to form a national steering committee that worked with HowlRound to produce the first LTC National Convening in October 2013, the largest gathering of Latinx theatremakers in the United States in over twenty-five years. The Steering Committee then grew into a national, volunteer-driven movement of Latinx and allied theatremakers using a commons-based approach centering horizontality, relationality, and resource sharing to advance the Latinx theatre field. 

Over the course of thirteen years of partnership, HowlRound and the LTC co-produced eighteen national convenings and launched a series of groundbreaking programs, amplifying the voices and artistry of the Latinx theatre community.

During the years of our partnership, the LTC centered its programming around four key goals: increasing the visibility of Latine/x/a/o theatre artists, expanding the narrative of the American theatre, championing equity through advocacy, and cultivating leadership within the field. You can learn more about how programming was chosen and how the LTC functioned as a commons through essays like “How a Commons Becomes a Selection Committee,” “The Latinx Theatre Commons’s Next Cycle of Programming,” and “Radical Ideas Welcome.” 

Over the course of thirteen years of partnership, HowlRound and the LTC co-produced eighteen national convenings and launched a series of groundbreaking programs, amplifying the voices and artistry of the Latinx theatre community. In order to spread awareness of this work and combat the historical erasure of Latinx theatre and organizing in theatre history, discourse, and scholarship, HowlRound and the LTC documented this work through livestreams, videos, essays, and more, which you can find on the convening pages below: 

• 2025 Fornés Institute Symposium in Princeton, New Jersey on 22 March 2025.
• LTC National Convening at Encuentro 2024 in Los Angeles, California from 30 October to 3 November 2024.
• LTC Tenth Anniversary Convening in Boston, Massachusetts from 14-16 March 2024.
• 2023 LTC Designer and Director Colaboratorio in Portland, Oregon from 28 June - 2 July 2023.
• 2022 LTC Comedy Carnaval in Denver, Colorado from 9-12 June 2022.
• Miami in Motion: 2019 LTC Miami Regional Convening in Miami, Florida from 12-14 July 2019.
• 2019 LTC TYA Sin Fronteras Festival and Convening in Austin, Texas from 24-26 January 2019.
• 2018 LTC Carnaval of New Latinx Work in Chicago, Illinois from 19-21 July 2018.
• 2018 LTC María Irene Fornés Symposium in Princeton, New Jersey on 14 April 2018.
• 2017 LTC International Convening at the 2017 LATC Encuentro de las Americas in Los Angeles, California on 8-12 November 2017.
• 2016 Latinx Theatre Commons New York City Regional Convening in New York, New York from 1-4 December 2016.
• 2016 Latinx Theatre Commons Pacific Northwest Regional Convening in Seattle, Washington from 15-17 April 2016.
• 2015 Latinx Theatre Commons Texas Regional Convening in Dallas, Texas from 31 October-1 November 2015.
• 2015 Carnaval of New Latinx Work, produced in association with Teatro Vista and Chicago Alliance of Latino Theatre Artists (ALTA Chicago), hosted by The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois from 23-25 July 2015.
• The 2014 Latinx Theatre Commons National Convening at Encuentro 2014, produced in association with the Los Angeles Theatre Center in Los Angeles, California from 6-10 November 2014.
• The 2013 Latinx Theatre Commons National Convening in Boston, Massachusetts from 31 October-2 November 2013.
• Latino Theatre Commons Steering Committee Convening in Boston, Massachusetts from 22-23 March 2013.
• Latino Theatre Artists in Washington, DC on 18 May 2012.

Other initiatives and publications include:

• The Fornés Institute, preserving and amplifying the legacy of Cuban-American playwright María Irene Fornés through workshops, convenings and advocacy.
• The Diane Rodriguez Teatrista Award, the Latinx Theatre Commons' first award dedicated to an individual working in the theatre field who is committed to increasing Latinx representation across disciplines. The award continues the legacy of Diane Rodriguez (1951-2020), an award-winning, multi-hyphenate theatre artist who tirelessly advocated for other artists and opened doors for future leaders in the field. Read a conversation inaugural recipient Patricia Garza conducted about Diane’s legacy, or watch Patricia in conversation with the second recipient, Adriana Gaviria.
• Encuentro: Latinx Performance for the New American Theater edited by Trevor Boffone, Teresa Marrero, and Chantal Rodriguez, published by Northwestern University Press and supported by the LTC. Buy the book or read the announcement.
• The Latinx Theatre Commons 2013 National Convening: A Narrative Report by Brian Eugenio Herrera, published by HowlRound. Download the e-book or read an interview with Brian and Jamie Gahlon.
• The El Fuego Initiative, which supported the production of new Latinx plays championed by the LTC. Read essays documenting the project.