Aguijón Theater

Founded in 1989 by Colombian born theater director Rosario Vargas, Aguijón Theater is the oldest Latinx theater company in Chicago.[1][2] Aguijón Theater produces Spanish language plays, musicals, and bilingual spoken word performances by Latin American and Latinx playwrights and performers. Aguijón had its headquarters at Truman College from 1989 until 1999 when it acquired an intimate venue that accommodates 65 red velvet seats on North Laramie Avenue in Chicago.[1] The company has examined women's social conditions, power dynamics between landowners and oppressed workers and the marginalization of indigenous populations.[1]

Spanish and Latinx Theater Productions

Aguijón Theater operated as a Spanish language traveling theater for its first ten years, bringing their productions to schools, libraries, and community centers throughout the Chicago area. Augusto Yanacopulos and Rosario Vargas bought an old building in the northwest side of Chicago, renovated it, and donated it to the theater company.[1]  

The first play that the company presented was “Homage to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz,” a show created and directed by Rosario Vargas and inspired by the “Eternal Feminine” by Rosario Castellanos.[3] The cast included teenage actresses, Marcela Muñoz and Gloria García, and violinist Maruca Helguera. The company also produced a single actor performance inspired by the poem of the same name by Rosario Castellanos.

Later productions included: “Orchids in the Moonlight” by Carlos Fuentes, "Blood Wedding," The House of Bernarda Alba,” and “Yerma” by Federico García Lorca,[4] "La Chunga” by Mario Vargas Llosa,[5] and “Exquisito Agonia” by Nilo Cruz. Among the US premieres, the company produced Teresa Dovalpage's play "The Wailing Woman's Daughter" in 2006, and “Kiev” by the French-Uruguayan playwright Sergio Blanco in 2020. They also produced “Perversions,” a farce about war by José Castro Urioste and Eduardo Cabrera and Raúl Dorantes's “Even the Sparrows Leave their Nest,” a play inspired by “The Strangest Kind of Romance” by Tennessee Williams.[6]

References
  1. Arriaga, Alexandra (2019-10-22). "Aguijón Theater celebrates 30 years of bringing Spanish-language works to Chicago". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  2. Urioste, José Castro (2013-11-17). "Negotiating Spaces: Latino Theater in Chicago". Latin American Theatre Review. 46 (2): 199–206. doi:10.1353/ltr.2013.0017. ISSN 2161-0576.
  3. "How Marcela Muñoz Is Advancing Latino Theater In Chicago — MBG Home — Modern Brown Girl | Amplifying Brown Voices, One Story at a Time". Modern Brown Girl. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  4. Riley, Chloe. "There's sadism aplenty in La Casa de Bernarda Alba". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  5. "Stage and Cinema Theater Review: LA CHUNGA (Aguijón Theater in Chicago)". www.stageandcinema.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  6. "Goodman Theatre Announces Line-up for Latino Theatre Festival | TheaterMania". www.theatermania.com. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
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