Repertorio Español announces the winners of the 2012 METLIFE NUESTRAS VOCES NATIONAL PLAYWRITING COMPETITION

Barceló con hielo (Barceló on the Rocks) by Dominican-American playwright Marco Antonio Rodríguez took first place. The playwright will receive a cash award of $3,000 and the play will receive a full production at Repertorio in 2014.

Now on its 14th edition, MetLife Nuestras Voces has brought awareness to dozens of Latino plays and playwrights throughout the nation. The competition is responsible for the production of 13 plays at Repertorio Español. In addition, many of the competition’s finalists have gone on to receive readings, workshops and full productions at theaters such as Second Stage, Teatro Vista in Chicago and Signature Theatre in Virginia. Playwrights have subsequently received fellowships and residencies at companies such as The Public Theatre in New York and Goodman Theatre in Chicago, respectively. Playwrights that have participated in the competition have won ACE and HOLA Awards (Lina Gallegos, Carlos Lacámara, and Jorge González) and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (Quiara Alegría Hudes). The competition has distributed $100,000 in cash awards to Latino playwrights.

Over the course of 14 years, the MetLife Nuestras Voces Competition has been responsible for 13 original productions, garnered 16 ACE & HOLA Awards, given 58 cash awards, presented dozens of staged readings, and produced a professional DVD of Silvia González’s “Boxcar.” Most recently, with the support of MetLife Foundation, Repertorio Español and NoPassport Press published two bilingual anthologies of five winning plays emerging from the competition.

WINNERS OF THE 2012 COMPETITION:

1^st Place: (Award: $3,000)

BARCELÓ CON HIELO by Marco Antonio Rodríguez from San Antonio, TX

The play tells the story of Nino, a Dominican from el Cibao living in New York City. In the course of one night he must confront his own mortality and dark secrets that are intrinsically tied to the island’s political history and have plagued his family for generations. 

2^nd Place (Award: $2,000)

BASILICA by Mando Alvarado from Los Angeles, CA

3^rd Place (Award: $1,000)

I PUT THE FEAR OF MEXICO IN ‘EM by Matthew Paul Olmos from Brooklyn, NY 

Runners – Up (Award: $500 each)

AMERICAN TRIAGE by Marisela Treviño Orta from San Francisco, CA

EXCLUSIVA by Agustín Meléndez Eyraud from Los Angeles, CA

The Award Ceremony will take place on Monday, May 20, 2013 before the premiere of Vincent Toro’s “21” (Winning play of the 2011 Competition) at Repertorio Español located at 138 East 27^th Street New York, NY 10016 (between Lexington and Third Avenues). The premiere will be followed by a reception in honor of the competition’s 13^th Anniversary and the launch of the anthology.

About Marco Antonio Rodríguez:

Marco Antonio Rodríguez is a Dominican-American playwright, actor, director and producer born and raised in New York City. Mr. Rodríguez graduated from the Fiorello H. La Guardia High School of Performing Arts and holds a Masters of Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University.  His plays include Pico de gallo; Dios nos libre (Heaven Forbid(s)!,), which was named Outstanding New Play by The Texas Theater Critics Forum; and La luz de un cigarillo (Ashes of Light,) which received 5 HOLA and 4 ACE Awards, including Best Play and Best Direction, during its extended run at LATEA Theater and Lehman Stages in New York. La luz de un cigarrillo was recently published by NoPassport Press in Spanish and English. His screenplays Silencio (Silence,) Mariscal (Marshall,) and Kennedy in a Box all won 1^st Place in NYC’s Midnight Screenplay Competitions in separate years. In addition, Silencio (Silence) won Best Dramatic Short at the Action On Film Festival in Pasadena, CA and was an official selection at the SoCal Film Festival in Huntington Beach, CA and a finalist in the prestigious Creative World Awards. Mariscal was also a finalist in the Slamdance Writing Competition. Mr. Rodríguez’s directing credits include the South West premiere of Rick Najera’s Latinologues at the Undermain Theatre and the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas; Pico de gallo at the Ice House Cultural Center (IHCC) in Dallas; “La luz de un cigarrillo” at Teatro LATEA in New York, and Dios nos libre at IHCC and at the New Jazz Space Theater in New York as part of the (International Fringe Festival). Mr. Rodríguez resides in San Antonio, Texas and is a guest writer for Latino Leaders Magazine.