LATINX NEW PLAY FESTIVAL
November 21 – 23, 2025 at La Jolla Playhouse
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL | SCHEDULE | TICKETS | PLAYS | ARTIST BIOS | PAST FESTIVALS
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
We are proud to announce the full programming for the eighth Latinx New Play Festival and look forward to welcoming new and returning audiences to La Jolla Playhouse, November 21 – 23, 2025.
The Latinx New Play Festival expands the presence of Latinx stories on the American stage, and spotlights the broad range of today’s Latinx experience. Four scripts were selected to be rehearsed and developed at the Playhouse, culminating in a live public reading at the festival.
The festival is free for everyone to attend, and will include a schedule of in-person readings of new works, panel discussions and other events. This year’s festival programming includes Our Lady of the San Diego Convention Center by Mario Vega, Tempt Me by Andrew Rincón, Ama. Egg. Oyá. by Lori Felipe-Barkin and NOVIOS by Arturo Luíz Soria.
Co-produced by TuYo Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse, the Latinx New Play Festival was originally launched in 2017 by San Diego Repertory Theatre, led and curated by TuYo Co-Artistic Director Dr. Maria Patrice Amon. La Jolla Playhouse is delighted to continue to provide this vibrant, important arts event a new home in San Diego since 2023.
What does Latinx mean?
Latinx is a gender neutral term in place of identifiers such as Latino, Latina or Latin@. The term seeks to reject gender binaries and move towards inclusion that recognizes the intersecting identities of Latin American descendants.
Dates
Nov 21 – 23, 2025
Venue
Play Development Center, La Jolla Playhouse
Google Map | Parking Info
SCHEDULE
Friday Nov 21
6:00pm Artistic and Literary Panel
7:00pm NOVIOS by Arturo Luíz Soria
10:00pm Opening Reception
Saturday Nov 22
2:00pm Local Project Presentation
3:00pm Tempt Me by Andrew Rincón
6:00pm Dinner Break
7:00pm Ama. Egg. Oyá. by Lori Felipe-Barkin
10:00pm Reception
Sunday Nov 23
1:00pm Scholar Panel
2:00pm Our Lady of the San Diego Convention Center by Mario Vega
5:00pm Closing Reception
TICKETS
Capacity for all days has been reached. Sign up for the waitlist to receive an alert if more seats become available.
PLAYS
Our Lady of the San Diego Convention Center
By Mario Vega
Lulu and Milli are hired to work as youth care workers at the San Diego Convention Center, which is being used as a shelter for young migrant girls. As time passes, Lulu and Milli are tested by the changing rules and restrictions at their job.
This new play is written by San Diego local, Mario Vega, a graduate of San Diego State University, and the playwright and book writer for Tuyo’s new musical Pásale Pásale, featured at La Jolla Playhouse’s 2024 WOW Festival.
Tempt Me
By Andrew Rincón
A queer reimagining of a very old and well-known story.
God starts the world with light. But then the Devil (call him Lucy) suddenly appears on stage. He speaks into a microphone and asks the audience to imagine the stage as a familiar Garden. But things seem strange in Paradise. There’s a lonely lisping Animal, inventing Dance. Eve is overworked and facing a crisis. Adam’s a hot idiot. And when a mysterious woman sneaks her way into the Garden, Lucy finds himself taking the audience on a metatheatrical journey that twists narratives of good and evil.
Ama. Egg. Oyá.
By Lori Felipe-Barkin
A papaya falls from between Ama’s legs and breaks into pieces…Shit! She’s miscarrying again. Ama. Egg. Oyá. is about Ama, a woman from Hialeah, Florida, hell-bent on having a child. It’s no wonder she feels an affinity towards Oyá, a barren African Orisha. As told through a series of fables, this bilingual play blends modern-day Miami and Cuban beats with Santería to examine infertility, motherhood, and maternal ambivalence.
NOVIOS
By Arturo Luíz Soria
A motley crew of cooks hurl insults, grab ass, and compete to be the most macho en el calor of a gringo’s failing kitchen, all under the thumb of Chef Gallo. When a flamboyant new dishwasher sparks an affair with Luiz, Gallo’s ward, the cooks’ banter turns deadly. Gallo must wrangle the men to keep the restaurant open while wrestling with her own demons that threaten to push Luiz away forever.
Mario Vega, Playwright
Mario Vega is a playwright/lyricist/digital artist from Southern California. He is a graduate of San Diego State University and is currently obtaining his MFA in playwriting at UCLA. He has written the book and lyrics to four full-length musicals, in addition to multiple plays. His work explores Latine identity and the borderlands through the lenses of satire and fantasy.
Andrew Rincón, Playwright
Andrew Rincón (he/she/they) is a Queer Colombian-American playwright, screenwriter, and world builder. Their work blends fantasy, modern Latine mythology and Queer fabulation. Their plays have been developed with The Latinx Playwrights Circle, The Austin Latino New Play Festival, The Amoralists Theatre Company, Pork Filled Productions (Seattle), Out Front Productions (Atlanta). Andrew was a member of INKtank Lab for Playwrights of Color (2017) and 2017 Fornés Playwriting Workshop (Chicago). He is the winner of the 2018 Chesley/Bumbalo Grant for writers of Gay and Lesbian Theatre and New Light Theatre Project’s New Light New Voices Award (2019). Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellow (19-20), MacDowell Fellow (Winter 2020). Skidmore College’s Visiting Playwright in Residence (21-22). Finalist in LGBTQ Drama for the 36th Lambda Literary Awards 2024.
Select plays include: The Lonely, El Mito or The Myth of my Pain, The Leopard Women. Their play I Wanna Fuck like Romeo and Juliet had its world premiere in NYC at 59e59 Theatres (Fall 2022) and is published by Concord Theatricals. They are currently pursuing an MFA in playwriting at Yale School of Drama.
Lori Felipe-Barkin, Playwright
Lori Felipe-Barkin is an English-Spanish playwright, performer and voice-over artist based out of Miami and NYC. Most recently, her short play, The Peepholeman, premiered at BAM as part of the 2024 Weasel Festival. Her three-act play, Flor Underwater, was selected for the 2020 Play Penn New Play Conference, received an Honorable Mention for the 2021 Terrence McNally Award, and was a finalist for the 2023 Risk Theatre Award, the 2023 Austin Film Festival Playwriting Competition, and the 2024 Royer Award. She has had play readings at Playwrights Horizons, INTAR Theatre, and Iati Theater. She holds an MFA in playwriting from Brooklyn College.
Arturo Luíz Soria, Playwright
Arturo Luíz Soria is an Obie Award-winning actor and playwright. His one-(wo)man show, Ni Mi Madre, premiered at Rattlestick Theater in the summer of 2021. It was a NY Times Critic’s Pick and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, Outer Circle Critics Award, a Drama League Award, and won an Obie Award for Best Performance. It recently had its European premiere at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He currently has three projects in the works: a new solo show, Sin Padre, commissioned by Rattlestick Theatre through a NYSCA grant; a screen adaptation of the novel Bodega Dreams for Black Bar Mitzvah Productions and Votiv Films, slated to be directed by Ángel Manuel Soto; and a new play, La Kasa Mita’echo, commissioned by the Lucille Lortel Theatre’s Alcove New Play Development Program. As an actor, Arturo’s work in the theatre has been extensive. He made his Broadway debut in The Inheritance, which won the Tony Award for Best Play. He was also in the World Premiere of Hit the Wall at Barrow Street Theatre, and most recently, the World Premiere of Wet Brain at Playwrights Horizons. He has worked regionally at The Guthrie Theatre, Yale Rep, St. Louis Rep, Milwaukee Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Dallas Center, Steppenwolf Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, and many more. Arturo holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama, a BFA from The Theatre School at DePaul University, and was part of the inaugural class at Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad TV Writing Mentorship Program.
Photo credit: Vico Ortiz and Bailey Lee in I never asked for a gofundme at the 2024 Latinx New Play Festival.
