Latino Theater Company celebrates ‘Encuentro’ festival’s 10th anniversary

Nineteen visiting theater companies, 165 artists. Six L.A. theaters. And 25,000 expected attendees.

The Latino Theater Company presents “Encuentro 2024: We are Here, Presente!� a three-week celebration of contemporary Latino theater. Hosting different shows every weekend, the festival spotlights performance groups from the U.S., including Puerto Rico and Mexico, too. As their fourth installment in the series, this year’s gathering marks the festival’s tenth anniversary.

Founded in 1985, the Latino Theater Company is a nonprofit organization dedicated to portraying the Latino experience onstage. Hosting a variety of shows throughout the year, such as “Whittier Boulevard,� a “Chicanonoir� about life in L.A. in 2042, and “La Victima,� an ensemble production highlighting the immigrant experience of undocumented Mexican Americans, the downtown company focuses on building a community around theatrical storytelling.

The first “Encuentro,� or “Encounter,� was in 2014 — companies came together to inspire and connect. The plan was to host the international festival every three years, but given the COVID-19 limitations in 2021, the theater company decided to celebrate the decade mark as well. This year’s “We are Here, Presente!� theme is a reminder that Latino theater isn’t going anywhere.

De Los caught up with Latino Theater Company Artistic Director José Luis Valenzuela, ahead of the festival’s opening day. Starting Thursday to Nov. 10, every Thursday through Sunday night, the Los Angeles Theater Center will feature a rotating schedule of the different productions. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

It’s been 10 years since the first “Encuentro� festival. How does that feel?

It’s very emotional and exciting to think that we began this 10 years ago. We weren’t really sure if it would be the only one. We always intended to do one every three years, but you never know.

The first “Encuentro� was centered around the idea of ‘who are we?’ We asked ourselves and Latino theater companies around the country, to help us all understand who we are as Latinos in the United States and what work we are doing.

The idea of the “Encuentros� is to not talk about the audience, ticket sales or any of that. It’s all about reminding ourselves why we do the type of theater we do.

This year’s theme is “We Are Here, Presente!� What does this sentiment represent for the Latino Theater Company specifically?

There are white theaters that are closing down and had millions of dollars. But here we are, with no resources, still doing the work with pleasure, joy and love. That’s why we’re here. We’re not complaining and we’re not dying. The money isn’t what’s important here — we don’t charge a lot of money for a ticket. That’s not what theater is supposed to be. This is culture. This is art and it incites community. It’s why we’re never gonna die.

What do you expect will happen over the course of the next three weeks?

The dialogue is gonna be super intense, but in a good way. This festival is a true reminder to be compassionate and to be who we are as Latinos. We’re beautiful people. We care about our community and about each other and that’s how this festival always feels.

Looking back at the past three “Encuentros,� what sticks out to you?

The generosity, always. The ability that we have to share the work and to talk about the work with a lot of generosity and compassion and understanding is something that’s hard to find.

What we did in 2014 was phenomenal. And in 2017, we focused on being from the Americas and the different cultural divides we all experience — it was so interesting to see how American theater differed from Latin America.

In 2021, everything changed. We ended up doing a virtual festival, that anyone in the world could see. But during that political climate, and even in today’s, it’s so important to affirm that all of this is about self-determination. We need to be having conversations about how we are not creating work to be accepted. We are simply creating work to be.

A big part of this year’s “Encuentro� is to share the work of the younger generation. What do you think is important about spotlighting these new voices?

I’m an old man. No really, I am. And young voices are the future and it’s our job to engage them in the theater. We have to give them any skills or any tools that we have. Also we have to show them a kind of leadership that proves that we can do this, no matter what.

What kind of audience do you expect to show up to the festival?

I always say we don’t do theater for theater people. We do theater for people. So, we end up having one of the youngest theater audiences. 49% of our attendees are between the age of 18 and 30.

There’s so many young people in the community who are hungry to participate, to create community, to be engaged and understand what we’re talking about politically or socially or just as humans. It’s really beautiful.

Which stories are you most excited to see come to life?

I love them all. We have one play, called “A Girl Grows Wings,� about the dreamers. It has no words and the company is from Mexico City. It’s so interesting because the word “dreamers� means something totally different to us in the U.S. versus in Mexico.

We have “Odd Man Out,� which is a play in the dark. You don’t see anything. You just hear, smell and use your other senses. It’s all about a blind Argentine musician. Also we have a musical from Pregunes [a New York company] with amazing music called “The Red Rose.�

What do you hope people take away from these shows?

That they’re not alone. I want them to understand that there are people all over the country and the world doing what they that we do with the same issues and the same traumas. We get inspired to continue doing this better and bigger to engage more with our communities.

That’s what I would love to capture.