The Plays
Shakespeare plays, Shakespeare adaptation, Shakespeare cultural adaptation, Shakespeare translation, bilingual Shakespeare
Shakespeare's plays have been adapted for the stage in a myriad of ways by Latinx artists and for Latinx cultures.
You will see links to reviews for some plays and productions. Some have buttons to press that lead to video or audio recordings. Some have images and ephemera, and others do not. This is a living, growing archive, so more will be added. See the Contact Page to find out how to contribute!
The plays are organized on the following pages by genre: Romeo and Juliet, Comedies, Tragedies, Romances, Histories, and plays Inspired by Shakespeare. Shakespeare plays are then organized chronologically by year of their first performance.
Romeo and Juliet has its own page because it is the Shakespeare play most adapted and performed through Latinx culture. In Latinx Shakespeares, I begin with West Side Story, an ethnicized and musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, that both profoundly changed Shakespearean storytelling and instilled Romeo and Juliet as the Shakespearean play most associated with Latinidad.
After Romeo and Juliet, comedies are popular, with Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing following, ostensibly because of their musicality and ability to absorb a rich soundscape. In Latinx Shakespeares, I term this auralidad, the rich aural excess that connotes Latinidad through music, vocality, accents, silences, noises, and sound effects.
Plays that are Inspired by Shakespeare blend characters, themes, and story arcs into wholly new stories. Scholars refer to this as "appropriation," but the connotation of this term does not always capture the positive and creatives aspects of theatre-making. The Inspired by Shakespeare page also includes Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA).
LatinxShakespeares.Org is a non-profit site.
This is an online, living, and growing archive of Latinx Theatre Adaptation.
Please credit all artists and scholars appropriately.
Please cite the archive in your dramaturgical and scholarly research.
All images and ephemera have been posted with permission from theaters and artists.
They may not be reproduced or re-posted without permission.
I built and paid for this site myself because of my love for theatre and theatre-makers.
I will be managing it as editor and adding to it each month.
All donations go to maintenance of the site.
