Central American Women on Stage in Contemporary Theatre and Performance

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

This panel focuses on Central American women as protagonists in contemporary theatre and performance who explore gender roles in their societies as they seek more equitable power relations. The first panelist analyzes a Mexican play about a real incident involving Salvadorans who become members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang in Los Angeles. The second presentation examines indigenous women’s theatre and performance that represents the shift in traditional gender relations in Chiapas and Guatemala. The panel concludes with two presentations about Costa Rican plays about domestic violence and abortion whose dramatists belong to an established and an emerging generation, respectively.

Sub Track

• Performance and Visual Studies

Session Organizer

• Elaine M Miller, Christopher Newport University

Chair

• Elaine M Miller, Christopher Newport University

Individual Presentations

• "Mara, o, de la noche sin sueño" by Antonio Zúñiga: The Tragedy of Being in the Mara Salvatruchas - Sandra M Cypess, University of Maryland

• FOMMA and Ajchowen: Indigenous Women’s Theater and the Lettered City - Gloria Chacón, University of California/San Diego

• Espacios de realidad, recuerdos, pensamientos, y control en "El beso del tiburón" del costarricense Melvin Méndez - Deb Cohen, Slippery Rock University

• "Ley seca" by Angie Cervantes: The Ordeal of a Costa Rican Teenage Girl - Elaine M Miller, Christopher Newport University