Description: This book gathers together the three "Greek" plays of the MacArthur Genius Award-winning Chicano playwright and performance artist. Based respectively on Sophocles' Electra and Oedipus, and Euripides' Medea, Alfaro's plays transplant ancient themes and problems into the 21st century streets of Los Angeles and New York, giving voice to the concerns of the Chicanx and wider Latinx communities.
Brief description: Rosa Andújar is Deputy Director of Liberal Arts and Lecturer in Liberal Arts at King's College London, UK.
Review Quotes:
"In these plays, Luis brilliantly transplants Sophocles's Electra and Oedipus and Euripides's Medea into the modern-day streets of Los Angeles and New York. In doing so, he gives voice to the rich, complex lives of the Chicanx and Latinx communities and neighborhoods that he knows and loves. This book is a must-own for any student and lover of contemporary, American plays." --LA Review of Books
"A Bloomsbury translation: In this way, the entire book constitutes more than a simple collection of Alfaro's plays. Each of the sections of the anthology reiterates the creation of an archive ... Andújar's work thus contributes to the preservation of the memory of these communities which have turned to the theatre as a venue through which to tell and connect their own stories with other cultures, geographies and temporalities, constantly and necessarily crossing all kinds of borders." --Latin American Theatre Review "Andújar not only offers a richly annotated introduction at the beginning of this volume: each of the three plays also begins with a separate introduction that contextualizes the dramatic work in a way that is both enthralling and enlightening ... A must-read for any student and fan of contemporary theatre. And for those of us who have a particular love of Chicanx and Latinx drama, this volume will bring immeasurable reading pleasure and enlightenment." --La Bloga "From the opening scene, the cultural combination is intoxicating ... A fascinating trilogy." --British Theatre Guide "Equipped with Andújar's excellent introduction to Alfaro's work generally and to each adaptation, plus a production history and interview with Alfaro, this book not only makes the scripts of three very successful plays available for the first time for everyone, but also presents a unique and fascinating way of engaging with the ancient Greek dramas of which Alfaro's plays are adaptations." --Skenè Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies "A welcome addition to the bookshelves of those with an interest in the afterlives of Athenian tragedy ... The volume as a whole exemplifies the way in which collaboration between academics and practitioners enhances classical reception studies: this reviewer would be delighted to see more contemporary classical reception texts being given similar treatment." --Greece & Rome