GUIDELINES
The Latino Theater Company (LTC), stewards and operators of the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC), announce Encuentro 2024, the 10th anniversary of the national theatre festival featuring three weeks of artistic exchange, cross-company co-creation, presented performances, all in repertory, for Los Angeles audiences. Encuentro 2024 will host fellow teatristas from across the country to present work, and share processes, challenges, aspirations, and goals. Encuentro 2024 will thrive by creating and producing exciting new work through self-determination, a testament of the resilience and dedication to our communities. We inspire, celebrate, and reaffirm our commitment to a new generation of artists, as we explore new forms of expression and growth in the theatre. We do it with love, passion, and commitment. We will see you in October 2024!
HISTORY OF ENCUENTRO:
2014: WHO ARE WE? In 2014, we embarked on a groundbreaking venture—a National Encuentro of Latino Theatre, the first of its kind in over 25 years. A convergence of 19 theatre companies and over 150 artists for a month-long celebration of theatre unfolded.
2017: WHERE ARE WE FROM? In 2017, Encuentro de Las Américas expanded our horizons. We joined forces with our fellow teatristas from Latino America y el Caribe, bringing together 16 companies and over 200 artists.
2021: VIRTUAL RE-ENCUENTRO The dynamic 10-day virtual festival featured discussions, showcases, and reflections, creating a space for actionable discussions within the theatre communities. Re-Encuentro included 16 virtual play performances and six public virtual panels, providing opportunities for engagement with companies across the United States.
2024: PRESENTE
GOAL OF ENCUENTRO 2024: To celebrate and empower fellow teatristas by providing an opportunity to share relevant, provocative and diverse work.
WHEN: October 24, 2024 - November 10, 2024
WHERE: The LATC is a historic, eight-story facility in the Historic District of Downtown Los Angeles. The LATC houses five theater venues, a cinema, a dance studio, large rehearsal spaces, dressing room facilities, a costume shop and a beautiful historic atrium grand lobby. The festival will form the centerpiece of the 2024 LTC Fall Season.
WHO CAN APPLY: Latine artists and theatre companies focused on Latine stories from the United States and Puerto Rico. The work must be a live, in-person performance that has been previously produced before Encuentro 2024.
HOW TO APPLY: All applications must be submitted through the provided Submittable link in the guidelines. DEADLINE TO APPLY: EXTENDED TO March 15, 2024. Selected productions will be notified by April 30, 2024.
ABOUT THE LATINO THEATER COMPANY: The LTC celebrates over 38 years of commitment to the creation of exciting, thought-provoking theater in Los Angeles. In 2005, the LTC embarked on a new vision to establish a cultural arts center in Downtown Los Angeles. The company was awarded a 20-year lease for the Los Angeles Theatre Center from the City of Los Angeles and a $4 million grant from the California Cultural and Historical Endowment to renovate this historic, five-theater complex. Since reopening in 2007, the company has produced critically acclaimed productions that reflect the diversity of Los Angeles. LTC season programming has consistently been recommended by critics and audiences alike, with shows garnering many L.A. Times Critic’s Choice, Backstage Critic’s Pick, LA Weekly Pick of the Week, and many Ovation Award Nominations and Recommendations over the years. Selected awards and nominations include three Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards for World Premiere of Outstanding New Play (A Mexican Trilogy, Time Alone, and The Mother of Henry), Ovation Award Nomination for Playwriting (Hope: Part II of A Mexican Trilogy), and a 2010 NAACP Theater Award (The Reckoning). It has received the ICWP 50/50 Applause Award for gender equity for the past seven years.
In 2023, the LTC launched the National Latinx Theater Initiative (NLTI). The first of its kind, this program provides 9.5 million dollars in much-needed unrestricted operating support to Latine theaters and ensembles in Los Angeles, throughout California, around the country and in Puerto Rico. Currently, the LTC has commissioned the Circle of Imaginistas, a group of playwrights focusing on relevant Latine themes. The program pairs veteran, established Latine playwrights with early to mid-career playwrights in a writing partnership through which each playwright will create a full-length play. Continuing LTC’s commitment to education and community involvement, LTC has created the Impact Initiative, a program designed for all community colleges across Los Angeles County providing a platform for students to engage in theater arts through student subscriptions, performances, and master classes. LTC also offers Play at Work (PAW), a free after-school vocational training program that teaches stagecraft to Los Angeles public high school teens and young adults, and the Summer Youth Conservatory (SYC), a fully-funded scholarship based five-week program where high school students train in a professional setting. Website: latinotheaterco.org
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
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Any ensemble, solo artist, theatre company, or producing entity that self-identifies as Latine or Indigenous and resides within the United States and Puerto Rico. Selected artists are required to be present in Los Angeles for the duration of Encuentro 2024 (October 24-November 10, 2024), with the exception of the production’s designers, who may elect to leave after opening or stay for the duration of the festival. All productions must be in-person and adaptable to a venue at the LATC and run for a minimum of 60 minutes and a maximum of 90 minutes. Only one proposal per group/person. We strongly suggest that the production you submit has already been produced and is designed to tour.
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Yes! We will accept multilingual productions and productions in languages other than English. If selected, all productions must provide English subtitles. Language has no bearing on selection. Please keep in mind, if you are submitting a musical or a play with music, we request that you provide English subtitles for the lyrics.
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We require subtitles for all productions to create a more accessible space for all audience members.
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A selection committee of USA-based Latine theatre practitioners and the Latino Theater Company members will use the following criteria to evaluate and select a total of 10 proposals to join the LTC at Encuentro 2024:
Provocative & Relevant Work
Diversity of Aesthetics & Methodology
Geographic Representation
Feasibility of Technical Requirements
Size of Cast & Crew
Values Align With the Goals for Encuentro 2024
Requirements of the Production
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A stipend to the selected artists
Roundtrip travel to and from Los Angeles for up to 10 participating artists per production
Performance venue equipped with lighting and sound. Please note, all five venue spaces will be shared between two or more productions.
Dedicated rehearsal and technical time in the performance venue
Designated Dressing Room Areas
Technical Staff
Marketing and Promotional Support
Administrative Support
A facilitated forum for dialogue about the work with peers
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Full-Time Staff Members Ranging From:
Marketing & Box Office Support
Front of House Support
Technical Director & Technical Staff
Administrative Support
Financial Support
Custodial Services
Dedicated Liaisons for Encuentro 2024
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Selected artists are expected to participate in all Encuentro 2024 activities including:
Participating in three weeks of performances
Viewing other performances on a provided schedule
Rehearsing and performing in a new collaborative theatre piece (devised work). Ten participating companies will join the Latino Theater Company and work together during the three-week residency at The Los Angeles Theatre Center to explore and share creative methodologies that will culminate in a performance of a co-created new work. This unique opportunity will allow participants and audiences to take an in-depth look at the range of aesthetic diversity in our work.
All selected artists will receive a Letter of Agreement (LOA) with the LTC.
Participating artists must provide sets, costumes, props, lighting designs, and sound designs for their individual production. Any and all shipping costs to Los Angeles are at the expense of the individual production.
Artists must acquire all necessary rights to perform, as well as permission(s) and contracts from the appropriate unions or professional associations prior to arriving at Encuentro 2024.
By October 13, 2024, all selected artists must submit subtitles in a PowerPoint file.
All expenses not outlined above must be covered by the individual production.