Goings on

Leaving on a jet plane

enriqueurueta — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 23:16:31 GMT

But fortunately I'll be back in SF soon. I'm heading to NY tonight for an insane weekend of nonstop theatre---seeing 2 plays on Saturday, 2 plays on Sunday, and then Monday I have a reading of my play The Danger of Bleeding Brown at The Lark Play Development Center (www.larktheatre.org). Apparently they found a fierce ass drag queen for the reading--can't wait! Tuesday night I'm going to catch Beauty of the Father by Nilo Cruz at Manhattan Theatre Club. Nilo won the Pulitzer 2 years ago for Anna In The Tropics, which opens at Theatreworks in Palo Alto this spring. Wednesday I'm off to Providence to go visit Brown University, where I've applied for admission to the MFA program in playwriting. The New Play Festival is going on next week (week one, anyway), and so I figured it'd be a good time to check out the program. I'm really looking forward to seeing the shows, checking out the program, sitting in on a couple of classes, and having lunch with Paula Vogel (Pulitzer Prize for How I Learned To Drive), who's in charge of the program. I hope I manage to not make a total fool of myself--I really, REALLY want to go there. Not that I'm eager to leave San Francisco. I'll miss Trannyshack so much. I'm sad that I'll be missing it next week, but I'm excited that I'll get to check out Trannyshack NYC this Sunday. I'll go incognegro and report back on the fierceness quotient. Oh--by the way--I have no idea what bars/clubs I should hit while I'm there. Got any recommendations? The Cock? The Eagle? Someplace where I can get both drunk and impaled on cock would be preferable. I'll be back soon--y'all bitches hold it down for me!

Fug you!

enriqueurueta — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 19:43:00 GMT

Bitches. All of you who might have known about this website and WITHELD its existence from me. How could I have gone so long, arrogant and judgmental as I am, without knowing about: www.gofugyourself.com These mean ass bitches are the closest thing to soulmates I'll ever have in my life. Respect!

PlayLabs Semi-Finalist

enriqueurueta — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 21:31:50 GMT

So I literally just got an e-mail confirmation that I'm a semi-finalist for PlayLabs--a 2 week long development retreat in July sponsored by The Playwrights Center of Minneapolis (which also gives out the Jerome Fellowship, which I'm also a finalist for). I'll find out in a couple of months if I'll be off to Minneapolis for a couple of weeks to develop my play The Danger of Bleeding Brown. I'm pretty excited that this play about ethnosexual fetishization/latin tranny hookers/Jews gone wild/fisting is getting recognized. Plays that get developed in PlayLabs often get picked up for production elsewhere. But beyond that it'll be a great networking opportunity---it'll be a national intro of sorts to lit managers and artistic directors interested in new plays. Here's to hoping--cross y'alls fingers for me!

Enrique does the Academy

enriqueurueta — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 21:16:55 GMT

So my play The Danger of Bleeding Brown will be taught next quarter at UC San Diego in an upper division theatre seminar "Gay and Lesbian Themes in US Latino Drama." Dr. Jorge Huerta just sent me the syllabus. Below, an excerpt: 3/14 ""Love the Sin, Hate the Skin: Is This a Movie or a >Disco Ball Gone Wild?" READ: THE DANGER OF BLEEDING BROWN, Enrique Urueta >[READER] > 3/16 GUEST LECTURER, ENRIQUE URUETA That's right. This March I'll be flown down to San Diego to talk about my play and lecture on ethnosexual desire, racial fetishization, and sex as theatre. Me and a room full of undergrads who probably think Crisco and poppers are a late night snack. I. Can't. Wait! Anyone in San Diego? Let's meet up when I'm down there.

Carry Me Back to Ol' Virginny

enriqueurueta — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 23:23:23 GMT

So I'm heading back to my old stomping grounds of South Boston, VA tomorrow evening. I hope all my Tribesters have a fabulous holiday season. I love you all, but don't ask me to bring back anything like a Smithfield ham or som'n. I ain't got room. Nomsayn? I'll try to post updates on my oh-so-country holiday sojourn. Ham biscuits. Pepper jelly. Deep fried turkey. Redneck fisting. Mmmmm. I'll be back on the 27th, just in time for Starsearch at Trannyshack. And no, I'm not competing.

Two vitally important websites

enriqueurueta — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 19:47:59 GMT

Both of these are highly, highly necessary. Enjoy! http://media.putfile.com/Lady-Goes-Crazy-on-Trading-Spouses http://cryingwhileeating.com/ Why am I so fascinated by these?

Bring on the Bjorn!

enriqueurueta — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 02:07:33 GMT

I just found out that I'm a finalist for the Jerome fellowship for 2006-7. For those who don't know, it's a major fellowship for emerging playwrights to be in residence at The Playwrights Center of Minneapolis (http://www.pwcenter.org). $9,000 and developmental support to work on a new play. 150 applicants--18 finalists--who will be the 5 or 6 chosen ones? Will Enrique be moving to Minneapolis and frolicking in Teutonic bliss? Bring on the Bjorn, I say. I'll let you know when I find out in February!

Middle-Eastern Actors ReOrient on California Stages

enriqueurueta — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 21:33:37 GMT

From backstagewest.com Middle-Eastern Actors ReOrient on California Stages November 10, 2005 By Nicole Kristal With one-acts about the challenges of biracial marriage, prejudice against an unmarketable Lebanese pop star, and a reconciliation between a Palestinian woman and an Israeli solider, American and Middle-Eastern playwrights featured in San Francisco's annual ReOrient theatre festival convey the complex realities of Middle-Eastern identity today. Since 1999, the festival, presented by Golden Thread Productions in San Francisco, has aimed to displace misinformation and foster understanding about the Middle East while providing an outlet for Middle-Eastern actors and playwrights. One of the only Middle-Eastern theatre festivals in the country, ReOrient showcases for one month the work of these artists who are under-represented or depicted mostly in stereotypes in film and television. The nonstereotypical roles that are provided often go to people of non-Middle-Eastern descent: For example, on ABC's Lost -- one of television's most highly rated prime-time dramas -- the Iraqi character Sayid is played by British-Indian actor Naveen Andrews. With the ReOrient festival's growth in San Francisco and the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles staging two Middle-Eastern plays back-to-back this season, progress is evident. But despite these advances, Middle-Eastern artists still battle their own culture's misconceptions about theatre and acting. Torange Yeghiazarian, the artistic director of Golden Thread and a featured playwright in the festival, said theatre in the Middle East historically is not considered a legitimate art form, as is painting or music. "For a woman to become an actor -- that's almost equal to being a prostitute," she said. "It's just not highly respected, and it's not taken seriously." She also said that as the Middle-Eastern community in the U.S. feels under attack in the current cultural climate, it has withdrawn, adding to its under-representation onscreen and in theatre. Egyptian-born Yussef El Guindi, another of the festival's playwrights, said the withdrawal couldn't have come at a worse time. "This is a part of the world that needs to be heard from, because ignorance can be deadly," he said. "The more you know about a region and a people, the better." El Guindi will premiere his play Sniper at ReOrient. Based on his personal experience of meeting an American sniper at a party in Seattle, the play fictionalizes what happens when a peace activist meets a former military assassin at a party. Though it doesn't address Middle-Eastern issues, it was accepted by ReOrient because of El Guindi's Egyptian heritage. El Guindi's two one-acts about Muslim women, Acts of Desire, made its Southern California premiere at the Fountain Theatre in L.A. on Nov. 5. Another critically acclaimed Middle-Eastern show, What I Heard About Iraq -- Simon Levy's adaptation, based on an Eliot Weinberger article -- is currently playing at the Fountain Theatre. Armenian-American author and playwright Shahe Mankerian, whose one-act Worm appears in ReOrient, sees the trend toward staging more Middle-Eastern theatre in San Francisco and L.A. as a good sign for Middle-Eastern actors and writers. "I've realized, especially in Hollywood, there's a movement toward accepting works by Middle-Eastern writers," he said. "I think the tide is changing. I don't know about movies, but in plays, especially." Mankerian is actively involved in the Armenian theatre community in Pasadena and hopes more Armenian plays can cross over to broader audiences. Worm comedically depicts four Armenian ushers conversing in the bathroom at their friend's wedding, lamenting their friend's decision to marry a non-Armenian. "It's about men discussing what it is to be Armenian and what it is to love as an Armenian," said Mankerian, who based the play on his experiences at the wedding of his best friend, who married a Filipino. He wrote it as a drama, but audiences interpreted the play as more of a comedy; Armenian audiences, especially, laugh, somewhat uncomfortably, when they see themselves in the characters. Yeghiazarian's piece Call Me Mendi also addresses the difficulty of building intimacy in cross-cultural relationships, which audiences of all races can relate to. She, too, drew from personal experience, inspired by a friend's Iranian-specific joke. Other plays in the festival include A State of Innocence by Naomi Wallace, in which a Palestinian woman visits an Israeli solider at a destroyed zoo in the Gaza Strip. Yeghiazarian describes it as a story about two people reconciling and learning to see each other as human beings. Not all of the plays in ReOrient are written by Middle-Eastern playwrights. Columbian-American Enrique E. Urueta wrote Learn To Be Latina -- a one-act in which an aspiring Lebanese pop star is told to pretend to be half-Latina -- with ReOrient in mind. Urueta drew from his own experiences to address the larger issue of identity for first-generation Americans. The story culminates in an ethnic consultant attempting to teach the singer how to be Latina with the help of a sock puppet. The second week of ReOrient will feature a seminar on the works of Egyptian writer Lenin El Ramly, accompanied by a staged reading of his play Nightmare, at University of California, Berkeley. With attendance for the festival growing over the past two years, Yeghiazarian hopes to pack the house and eventually bring the show to other cities. "My dream for the festival would be that the budget would grow to a size where we can in fact reach out to actors around the country to provide better opportunities for them here and also be able to tour the plays in cities outside of San Francisco," said Yeghiazarian, who this year moved the festival from 50-70 seat venues to the 150-seat Magic Theatre. "We're sort of taking a leap of faith." ReOrient 2005, at the Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Bldg. D, 3rd fl., San Francisco. www.goldenthread.org. (415) 626-4061.

Kickass Opening Weekend

enriqueurueta — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 18:01:22 GMT

So Learn To Be Latina opened on Saturday to a very warm and receptive audience. Lots of laughs throughout the piece--and understandably so. My cast really lands the comedy and the direction is spot on--not to mention that two dance numbers are friggin hysterical. I'm really, really pleased with how it turned out and look forward to seeing it throughout the run. I hope more of you can come check it out. It runs Wed-Sun through December 4th--hope to see you there. For reservations or more info, visit http://www.goldenthread.org.

Queer as....FUCK!!!!!!

enriqueurueta — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 00:16:34 GMT

So I just got an e-mail from a colleague in NY, who's been doing his best to pimp my play The Danger of Bleeding Brown to any and everyone. Anyway, he was talking it up to an actor who asked if he could have a copy to read. And who is that actor? Randy Harrison--the hot twinkie blond boy from Queer As Folk!!! My play will soon be in his hands. He will read it and he will love it and he will want some good ol' latin lovin'. Or at least, he'll want me to write him something. Here's to hoping for either (or both).

Learn To Be Latina will FIERCE you!!!!

enriqueurueta — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 23:09:55 GMT

Dearest friends, fags, freaks, and family-- It's that time again. Oh yes. It's time for you to get busy getting pretty and join me next Saturday November 12th for the opening of my play Learn To Be Latina, part of Golden Thread Theater Company's ReOrient Festival 2005 (http://www.goldenthread.org). I've had a fab-tastic time getting this piece ready for THE debutante ball of Middle-Eastern themed plays in this country (did I just conflate the Middle East and the high south? Why, yes, I think I did). I've got a kickass cast (Carolyn Zola, Tiffany Sierra, Valerie Weak, Lawrence Radecker, Noah James Butler, and a voice-over cameo by yours truly) and the fiercest director 2 pints of beer can buy, the unforgettable and NEVER regrettable Mary Guzman (she directed the dyke indie classic, Desi's Looking for a New Girl--go rent it. Better yet, buy it. Even better, buy one for yo momma cuz you know she want one too...) For those of you who couldn't make it to the reading at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival 2005, here's your chance to see what happens when you give me a scoop of politics, two cups of kitsch, a bottle of tequila and set me in front of a computer. For those of you with ADD, here's the quick n' easy: A young Lebanese-American woman meets with record executives who tell her she's beautiful and talented, but there's no way in post-911 America a Middle-Easterner can be a pop star...unless she pretends to be latina! Bring in an ethnic consultant (who's Irish) to teach her how to be latina and add a few sassy dance/quasi-drag numbers (because drag just makes everything better) and high art ensues. How can you read that and NOT want to come? Let's be honest. It opens Saturday Nov. 12th--so come for the opening night Gala. Art! Food! Wine! Come see the play that's going to FIERCE you five ways til Friday! If for no other reason, come just to see my opening night outfit. RESPECT! If you can't make it on the 12th, come on the 13th, or any Wednesday-Sunday thereafter through December 4th. I'll be at most of them. Why? Why not, is what I have to say... Hope to see you there! xo Enrique Golden Thread Productions premieres ReOrient 2005 Seventh annual festival of short plays placing the Middle East centerstage THE PLAYS A State of Innocence by Naomi Wallace, recent MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Parable for a Dark Time by San Francisco playwright George Crowe Sniper by Egyptian-born playwright Yussef El Guindi Worm by Shahe Mankerian, an Armenian-American author Learn to be Latina by San Francisco playwright Enrique E. Urueta Call me Mehdi by San Francisco playwright Torange Yeghiazarian WHEN November 11-December 4, 2005 Wednesday through Sunday WHERE Magic Theatre Fort Mason Center, San Francisco PRICING Thursdays-Sundays: $15 & $20 Special Ticket Offer: All Wednesday shows are $10 Free Preview Performance, November 11 at 8 pm BOX OFFICE: (415) 626-4061 www.goldenthread.org

Check out Backstage West Thursday Nov. 3!

enriqueurueta — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 20:55:02 GMT

There's an article that'll appear in Backstage West next Thursday November 3rd on Golden Thread Theatre Company's ReOrient Festival, which is the program in which my play Learn To Be Latina is being presented. I just got a call from one of the staff writers who interviewed me to talk about the play. If you see a copy of Backstage West next week, check it out! I'll see if it gets posted online next week, and if so, I'll post the article on here. Come see Learn To Be Latina November 12th-Dec. 4th! http://www.goldenthread.org

Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage Company...

enriqueurueta — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 18:31:51 GMT

has requested to read my play The Danger of Bleeding Brown. Boo yow! Not that this means anything will come of this play with them, but it does mean that if Michelle Hall (Arena's lit manager) likes it, then they'll request more of my work in the future. Fingers crossed!

Massah of Fine Art

enriqueurueta — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 23:33:12 GMT

So I've decided to apply to my 3 top choice playwriting programs (Brown, UT Austin, and U Iowa) at the encouragement of professional colleagues. Not that I'm eager to leave SF, but I am feening for the flavor of actually getting my work read by people outside of California (which is the point of the MFA--networking and exposure). Anyway, it's going to be uber competitive, as each of these programs accept 3 or 4 playwrights a year. But I'm feeling great about the odds now that I've secured an ASSKICKING trio of recommendations! I'm being recommended by Amy Mueller (Artistic Director of The Playwrights Foundation, one of the 3 most reputable development centers in the country), Megan Monaghan from South Coast Rep (the uber-Turg that all the other turgs in the country listen too), and Sheila Callaghan (one of my favorite playwrights with major national recognition, who happens to think my work kicks ass). I think given the caliber of the folks recommending me with my writing portfolio (The Danger of Bleeding Brown and Learn To Be Latina), I have a good shot of getting in. The fact alone that Megan Monaghan is recommending me is HUGE--all caps. Anyway, I won't find out anything until March at the very earliest, but here's to hoping in the meantime. I'll be sad to leave SF, but I'm really eager to move on with my writing. Those who volunteer to host me when I come back to visit get a free lapdance. That's right. You can get this lapdance here for free. And after I get my Master of Fine Arts, anyone who wants to call me Massah Enrique is encouraged to do so.

Rehearsals begin!

enriqueurueta — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 22:16:17 GMT

I had my first rehearsal for Learn To Be Latina last night, and I'm already feeling a bit better. The past couple of weeks have been uber stressful, trying to figure out the rewrite that I want to accomplish. I had hoped to be done completely with the rewrite by yesterday, but I was only able to get through the first half. The director and actors are all super understanding and wonderfully talented and had some really great insights into the play, things that I hadn't even considered. Now if I can just get through this rewrite, the rest should be smooth sailing since I'm working with uber director Mary Guzman (who directed both of my previous readings). Oh--and the one actor I was worried about (dialect wise, not talent) has HIRED her own dialect coach to prep for her part. Rock. ON! Here's to hoping for a fabulous process! And mark your calendars so you can come see for yourselves in the ReOrient Festival Nov. 12-Dec. 4 at The Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Building D (3rd Floor). For more information, visit http://www.goldenthread.org.

enriqueurueta — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 01:23:52 GMT

Just an update---I got a message from the literary manager at South Coast Rep, Megan Monaghan. She likes my play The Danger of Bleeding Brown and passed it on to the associate artistic director, John Glore, who said it is "really good writing," but that it's not right for South Coast Rep, which is just what I expected. However, Megan says that they want to read my next play whenever I'm ready to send it and that I'm "firmly on SCR's radar." Given that they have more money than any other theatre for commissioning playwrights, this is a really good thing. Here's to hoping.

First art grant!

enriqueurueta — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 23:45:59 GMT

So I just found out last night that I was one of four playwrights selected for the Theatre Bay Area CASH grant! I wrote a proposal for funding for the ongoing development of my full-length play Learn To Be Latina (the one-act of which is being produced by Golden Thread Theater Company and opens on Nov. 12). I'll be using the money to hire actors, my director Mary Guzman, and a dramaturg for two mini week-long workshops to tweak the script after the first draft is completed in February. Now I've gotta figure out how to get grant money to live on so I can spend my days writing. Not that I don't enjoy telling people how they, too, can win friends and influence people, but I'd rather get paid to sit in a coffee shop and write about ass fucking and racial politics. Anyone who'd like to contribute, I'm working on making my ass an official 501c3...

Taking over the world one college at a time...

enriqueurueta — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 23:33:32 GMT

So The College of William and Mary's Department of Theatre, Speech, and Dance will be flying me in for a one week residency in March. I'll be workshopping a full-length version of my play Learn To Be Latina with student actors, and I'll also be leading a playwright's workshop and guest lecturing in Contemporary Multicultural Theatre. It's going to be really funny to go back to my alma mater and be teaching in the department where I once wrecked shop. All those impressionable (and horny) young students--I can't wait! In related news, the one-act version of Learn To Be Latina is getting a staged reading at UMass-Amherst on September 30th at 8 p.m. So far I hear that the students think I'm fierce and are all in love with the play. I'm almost tempted to take the weekend and have a jaunt back east, but it'd be kind of a waste of a few hundred bucks. In any case, I'm glad the kiddies are enjoying my play. First UMass, then William and Mary---who will be next? I want a muthafuckin IVY! At least Dartmouth. It's a school of young rich white republicans, so no matter what I know I'll be fucked.

All I Really Need To Know I Learned At Trannyshack

enriqueurueta — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 19:03:24 GMT

1) There are many types of women. Some have penises, some don't, but both can be fierce! 2) Drag queens are quite possibly the most evolved state of human beings. 3) Be specific when you ask for a rum and coke. 4) Men are fascinating, curious, silly creatures. They can be gorgeous, sweet, bitchy, mean, catty, obnoxious, intelligent, vapid, tweaked out or fierce. Particularly those species that I've taxonomically classified as Rectallae insertus. 5) Two gay latin men + one hot white guy= big, big problem. For those of you who think I've exhausted what I have to say about gay latin men and the hegemonic construction of Anglo-European whiteness as the standard of beauty and desire, think again. "Baby, I'm Yours" is coming. Watch out!

Go see Christine Evans' Slow Falling Bird

enriqueurueta — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 00:18:56 GMT

I had the most amazing theatrical experience Saturday night. I went with a group of friends to see Christine Evans' play Slow Falling Bird and was left stunned at the sheer magic of it all. Simultaneously deeply real and amazingly abstract, this play sent me on an emotional journey that was jarring and unsettling, but ultimately rewarding. Amazing performances by the actors, a poetic and heartwrenchingly beautiful text by Evans, and exquisite stage direction by Rebecca Novick. The design and visual imagery created by Rebecca's staging added a richness to a text that's already deeply layered with meaning. It's one of the most important plays I've ever encountered. The play left me wanting to be better person, a better activist, and become more engaged with the sociopolitical fuckedupness of the world we live in. I hope I write something one day that's just as affecting. Go see this play! Final performances are this week-- Monday 8/15, Thursday 8/18, Friday 8/19, and Saturday 8/20 all at 8 p.m. at The Exit Theatre, conveniently located two blocks from Powell St. BART. Check out the website for more details: www.crowdedfire.org. To read a summary of the play and for more info on Christine Evans, check out http://www.ozscript.org/html/scripts/slowfallingbird.htm .

Billy Fucking Idol!

enriqueurueta — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 23:58:55 GMT

OH MY GOD! Billy Idol in Golden Gate Park on September 25. I can't think of a better way to celebrate my dead dad's birthday, unless it was some alone time with Billy after the show. Yes, I would fuck Billy Idol. Yes, I know how old he is. Stop making that face right now! You don't understand how hot I was for him when I was a kid. When I learned what a bad touch was when I was 5, I hoped that I would get one from him one day . Sigh... Anyone wanna go with me? Maroon 5 AND Billy Idol? What an unexpected combo... http://www.radioalice.com Mmmmm...Billy Idol. Hey daddy daddy, indeed.

A question for the socially awkward and insecure

enriqueurueta — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 01:25:36 GMT

Have you ever met a guy or girl for the first time and have to desperately mine the recesses of thought for words? Not out of disinterest, but out of shear...I dunno. Intimidation? Of the fact that s/he is, oh, smarter than you, more literate than you, taller than you, probably more well hung than you- (although I admit that that's not a stretch--and not that I'm a size queen because I'm not--no, really, I'm not.), DEFINITELY hotter than you, and over the course of two hours proves to be far more interesting than you? This is purely hypothetical. Purely. I'm well adjusted...as much as can be expected considering my complex history, but no matter how good I feel about myself or how kickass I think I am, it's only a matter of time before I meet someone like this and think "damn. I'm pretty lame." And I'm not putting this to get any sort of affirmation, because I am quite aware that I do kick ass on multiple fronts (if you have any doubts that I am, just ask Jacob). The question is really why aren't we ever enough for ourselves? Why can't we be happy being the best me possible? And I encounter this in so many people. In most, in fact. So much so that I should probably assume that the guy that I think is smarter and hotter and more interesting than me might, just might, in some small corner of his mind be thinking the same thing. Maybe? Meeting women and social interactions with women are far less stressful for me. I never have to wonder about their agenda and they never have to wonder about mine, because when I stare at a woman's tits, it's not out of desire, but rather "whoa. Don't those just, like, get in the way of things?" And now I want to say that I'm not misogynistic or antimammarian in any sort of way. It's just that there's just not that desire to hit it double XX style, unless there's been some hormonal and surgical adjustments. All this is to say that I wish I could meet a guy and have it be as comfortable as meeting a woman. I wish that I didn't wonder "is he interested in actually chatting or does he want to fuck me? Or doe he want to chat AND fuck me? And why the hell would someone so hot and interesting and funny want to fuck me?" And why can't I ever meet a guy and not instantly wonder whether or not he could top the hell out of me? But I do wonder these things and I do feel these things, and all I can do is be self-aware about it and critical. Not in the "no wire hangers!" way, but the analytical sense. And all I can do is tell my internal voice to shut up and really pay attention to that guy and not reduce things to bodies, insertion, in friction, in motion, in sweat, in gravity, yes, gravity, because the attraction of two bodies increases as the distance between them decreases, and, as I've said before, the closest you can get to anyone is inside, and that's some serious gravity right there. I wonder will I ever stop thinking these thoughts? I wonder if I want to. This is purely hypothetical. Purely. PS I did a google search of images for "socially awkward" and I got many, many photos of Julie Andrews. There's something in that, I think...

Another successful reading

enriqueurueta — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 22:50:18 GMT

Despite the at best farcical production debacles I had to deal with leading up to my reading, the reading of Learn To Be Latina today was fierce! It was so great to hear it out loud in front of an audience---and I think it works! Many, many thanks to Davina, who managed to pick up an Irish accent just for the reading. I'll be saddened when the day comes that there'll be no white chicks in my plays for Davina to play. The other actors were uber fab, too. Best of all for me was Calcetina==by far the fiercest actor on that stage today! If you were at the reading today, many thanks! And keep hush--don't spoil it for the rest of my Tribesters who didn't come today (sniff...sniff). Go see it in November--it rocks! No, really---it does. On a related note, immediately after the reading I was bombarded by people wanting to congratulate me, which was all flattering and shit. But the highlight of it all was meeting Gretchen Icenogle, the literary manager of Stark Raving Theatre in Portland (http://www.starkravingtheatre.org/index.php). She congratulated me, complimented my work, and then asked if I had any full length work she could see. I just happened to have a copy of The Danger of Bleeding Brown on me and gave it to her. I should be hearing back from her in a few months or so, but I think something will happen with Stark Raving---she said she was going to put the artistic director in touch with me for consideration for their festival of new short comedies each year. First stop Berkeley, second stop SF, next....Portland? Here's to hoping! On an unrelated note, don't ever go to Mack Folsom Prison. Other than the hot Aussie daddy who let me pummel his ass and scream "colonialization!", it was a pretty lackluster evening (as evidenced by the fact that I'm updating my blog at a fucking sex club)...lame!!!!

Yay--my first semi-pretentious artist statement!!!!

enriqueurueta — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 18:09:46 GMT

I was interviewed yesterday for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and I was asked why I write plays. In my head I was like "fuck! How the hell do I answer this?" And then I just opened my mouth and said: "I write plays because I have questions that can't be answered in short declarative statements. They can only be answered in voices in action in bodies in motion spiraling toward the inevitable conclusion of yet another question. It's the questions that I find most exciting. They are an invitation for dialogue with an audience, and it's through the dialogue that takes places outside the confines of performance where the real potential for thought and change exists." The interviewer seeemed to find that rather thought provoking and well-considered. She didn't need to know it was completely on the spot. I like it, though. I'm going to commit it to memory, in case I'm ever asked that question again. Like when I win my first Obie (see pic). Not if. When. Ambitious? A bit...

Soon to be required reading

enriqueurueta — Wed, 27 Jul 2005 21:19:33 GMT

I had an amazingly fabulous night last night! Jorge Huerta (that's him in the pic--you can check out his books at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Jorge%20Huerta/002-6910884-9530429 )--a professor of Chicano and US Latino theatre at UCSD and one of the leading authorities in the field--asked to have dinner with me while he's here for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference. He decided to wait until after I had, oh, 5 bloody marys and several glasses of wine to tell me that he wants to teach my plays The Danger of Bleeding Brown and Learn To Be Latina in two of his classes next year: contemporary latino theatre and queer themes in US latino theatre. That's right. I'ma be required reading biaaaaaaaaaaatch!!!! How you like me now? I have to say, the concept of having someone I've admired for so long teach me in his classes is more than a bit bizarre. And I'm still so early in my career that it feels a bit unjustified at this point. But am I going to argue? Hell no! I'ma be required reading--respect!