The Winter’s Tale

Directed by: Joseph Ponce

Luminarias (San Francisco, CA) – 1997

 

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The Winter’s Tale (1997)

 

 

The 1997 production of The Winter’s Tale by Luminarias in San Francisco was the first all-Latinx production of The Winter’s Tale in English in the United States.  The production was also staged in November at New College of California with actors from the community. Luminarias then became the resident company at New College of California.[1]

 

Luminarias

Latin American Theatre Artists (LATA) was a prominent group in the 1980s and 1990s, and theatre director Luis Orapeza worked with California Shakespeare Theater (CalShakes) to offer a workshop for Latinx that was open to all LATA members for a small fee.  It was there that Joey Ponce and Durand Garcia met and collaborated on an ethnically diverse production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Intersection for the Arts (1995) in the Mission district and at Yerba Buena Gardens Center for the Arts (1996). Center for the Arts wanted to inaugurate their Shakespeare for the Arts program, so Luminarias created a site-specific production that incorporated the fountain and gardens.[2] Midsummer had a predominantly Latinx cast with a few non-Latinx actors of color.

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Luminarias was focused on Latinx-themed classical theatre. In 1998 they staged an English language production of De La Calle by Mexican playwright Jesús González Dávila. The company disbanded within a few years after being formed, primarily due to financial issues. Durand Garcia is an actor and director and has been the Resident Fight Choreographer at African-American Shakespeare Company since 1998.

 

 

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CARLA DELLA GATTA

NOVEMBER 2022

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[1] New College was located at 19th and Valencia in the Mission district. It closed its doors in 2008.

[2] Durand Garcia, Phone Interview, 2 June 2014.