19th Annual Black and Latino Playwrights Celebration to host tribute to José Rivera

Playwright José Rivera will be the subject of a career tribute during the 19th annual Black and Latino Playwrights Celebration (BLPC) Aug. 30-Sept. 5 at Texas State University.

Organized by the Department of Theatre and Dance, the BLPC will feature two plays selected for workshopping and staged readings after a nationwide call for submissions.

The tribute to Rivera will take place 7 p.m. Sept. 3 in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Rivera is a recipient of Obie Awards for "Marisol" and "References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot," both produced by the Public Theatre, NY, and seen regionally and internationally. His script for "The Motorcycle Diaries" was nominated for 2005 best adapted screenplay Oscar, making him the first Puerto Rican writer ever nominated for an Academy Award. Rivera co-created and produced "Eerie, Indiana," (NBC) and was a consultant and writer on "Penny Dreadful: City of Angels" (Showtime) 2019. He will be the sole writer of the Netflix series based on One Hundred Years of Solitude. His most recent play "Your Name Means Dream" was part of the Rattlestick Playwrights Jam, 2020, and read at the 2020 Sundance Theatre Lab. 

This year, BLPC will host a playwriting workshop 12-3 p.m. Sept. 4 in the Theatre Center. Admission is $15. Playwright and director Virginia Grise will oversee the workshop. Grise won the 2019 Yale Drama Series Award for her play "blu" and has also won the Whiting Writers' Award, the Princess Grace Award in Theatre Directing and the Jerome Fellowship from the Playwrights Center.

The new play development reading presentation of "Power to the Queendom" by ShaWanna Renee Rivon will be 7:30 p.m. Sept. 4 in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. The reading will be directed by Malkia Stampley, with dramaturge Laquita Nyoka Boswell and guest artist actor Comfort Katchy. Admission is $10 for the general public, $7 for Texas State students, faculty and staff.

The new play development reading presentation of "Bed of Stone" by Ed Campa will take place at 12 p.m. Sept. 5 in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. The reading is directed by Kinan Valdez, with dramaturge Joe Luis Cedillo and guest artist actor Davi Trevino. Tickets are $5 for all attendees. Admission is $10 for the general public, $7 for Texas State students, faculty and staff.

The BLPC celebrates the voices of Black and Latino playwrights by work-shopping new plays in collaboration with professional directors, actors and university students. For more information, visit www.theatreanddance.txstate.edu/Productions/BLPC.html.