In TYA/USA’s 2020 report from participating theatres, “Exploring the Landscape of Live Theatre for Young Audiences in the U.S.” it was found that 19% of total productions in the 2018/2019 season were culturally specific “in which POC characters/communities/cultures were essential to the story’s narrative.” While this percentage is exciting given the history of the predominance of white, Euro-centric stories on TYA stages in the U.S., it also begs the question, who is producing said culturally specific productions? When making work that is culturally specific, the production can become an affinity space for those inside the culture. But when the producing entity is a predominantly white institution (PWI), what happens to the specificities and care of the affinity space of that production? Whose play does it become? What conversations of translation must be had? Using the experience of directing the Latinx-specific play “Luna” at ZACH Theatre in Austin, TX, TYA practitioner Mateo Hernandez invites participants into a dialogue on what the work of culturally specific theatre-making looks like in PWIs and how we might push for change towards more sustaining practices.
