Diane Rodriguez is a prominent American theatre artist who directs, writes and performs. Schooled in activist art, she received her BA in Theatre Arts from the University of California at Santa Barbara. An OBIE Award

Obie Award

The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...

 winning actor, she is known for using comedy to confront various forms of oppression, often with special attention to issues of gender and sexuality. She is a producer and director at Center Theatre Group

Center Theatre Group

Center Theatre Group is a non-profit arts organization located in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest theatre companies in the nation, programming subscription seasons year-round at the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and the Kirk Douglas Theatre...

, Los Angeles and an Artistic Associate of Cornerstone Theater Company

Cornerstone Theater Company

Cornerstone Theater Company is a theater company based in the United States that specializes in community-based collaboration. According to the mission statement published on the company's website, "Cornerstone Theater Company is a multi-ethnic, ensemble-based theater company...

. An enduring influence in Chicano theatre, she was born in the 1950s to American parents from farm working families. She co-founded two theatre companies, El Teatro de la Esperanza (Theatre of Hope) and Latins Anonymous, and was a leading actress for the seminal Chicano

Chicano

The terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...

 theatre group, El Teatro Campesino (Theater of the Farmworkers).

She joined El Teatro Campesino during the mid 1970s. In political sketches for César Chávez

César Chávez

César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....

 and full length works, she honed her comedic skills performing on a variety of stages from flat bed trucks to ancient European Greco Roman amphi-theatres.
In 1988 she co-founded the comedy troupe Latins Anonymous as a response to the Hollywood stereotyping of Latino actors.

Rodriguez then served as director of the Latino Theatre Initiative at the Mark Taper Forum from 1995-2000.

She began directing in 1991 and was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...

/Theatre Communications Group

Theatre Communications Group

Theatre Communications Group is an organization dedicated to the promotion of non-profit professional theatre in the United States. TCG has over 450 member theatres located in 47 states; 17,000 individual members; and a growing number of University, Funder, Business and Trustee Affiliates...

 Directing Award in 1998. She has directed and developed the work of Nilo Cruz

Nilo Cruz

Nilo Cruz is an Cuban-American playwright and pedagogue. With his award of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play, Anna in the Tropics, he became the first Latino so honored.-Early years:...

, Lynn Nottage

Lynn Nottage

Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often deals with the lives of women of African descent, African Americans and women. She was born in Brooklyn and is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005, and a MacArthur Genius...

, John Leguizamo

John Leguizamo

Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...

, Jose Cruz Gonzalez, John Belluso

John Belluso

John Belluso was an American playwright best known for his works focusing on the lives of disabled people.He also directed a writing program for disabled people....

, Octavio Solis, Culture Clash, Oliver Mayer, Migdalia Cruz, Cherríe Moraga

Cherríe Moraga

Cherríe L. Moraga is a Chicana writer, feminist activist, poet, essayist, and playwright.-Biography:Moraga was born in Whittier, California. She earned her Bachelor's degree from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, California and her Master's from San Francisco State University in 1980...

. She received Best Direction nominations for her work on Leguizamo's Spic-O-Rama and Culture Clash's Border Town.

She won an OBIE Award (OFF-BROADWAY) Award in 2007 for playing multiple roles in Heather Woodbury's Tale of Two Cities (Best Ensemble).

Published writings

• Latins Anonymous Houston: Arte Publico Press University of Houston ISBN 1-55885-172-0
• "Cruising Through Town in a Red Convertible", in anthology Puro Teatro, A Latina Anthology, 2000 Tucson: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 0-8165-1826-2
• "Water" in anthology Crème de la Femme-The Best of Contemporary Women's Humor Saporta, Nancy, editor 1997 ISBN 0-375-70056-0
• The Chicana Files: The Lobos Sightings-Liner Notes; Los Lobos El Cancionero Mas y Mas. 2000 Sire UK & Rhino Entertainment
• "The Pride of the Comunidad: Deeply tied to his culture, Miguel Delgado had a brief career fired by boundless energy. But his friendship was his greatest gift". Los Angeles Times 7 December 1998 sec F. p. 4.
• "A Skeleton In and Out of the Closet". Los Angeles Times, 1 November 1996, sec. F, pp. 1, 20

Plays

• Latins Anonymous co-written with Luisa Leschin, Armando Molina, Rick Najera
• The La La Awards co-written with Cris Franco, Armando Molina, Luisa Leschin
• The Path to Divadom
• Girl With Hair in Her Face
• The Ballad of Ginger Esparza co written with Luis Alfaro
• Los Vecinos/A play for Neighbors co-written with Luis Alfaro
• Water

Critical studies

• Sandoval- Sanchez, Alberto and Saporta, Sternback, Nancy. Stages of Life: Transcultural Performance and Identity in U.S. Latino Theatre. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press. 2001 Rodriguez, Diane 62; The Path to Divadom 130, 133, 138, 147-48 ISBN 0-8165-1828-9
• Broyles-Gonzalez, Yolanda. El Teatro Campesino Theater in the Chicano Movement. Austin. University of Texas Press 1994 ISBN 0-292-72082-3 Rodriguez, Diane, 45, 128, 137, 141, 156, continued work of 153, 163. on gender issues being ignored 139, not mentioned in history 132. women's early passivity 139 and Zoot Suit 178
• Krasner, David Twentieth-Century American Drama. Writing Beyond Borders: US Latina/o Drama. Rodriguez, Diane 379, 383
• Broyles-Gonzalez, Yolanda "The Living Legacy of Chicana Performances: Preserving History through Oral Testimony" Frontiers Vol. XI, NO. 1 1990 FRONTIERS Editorial Collective pgs 46-51

Articles

• "Rebel's Advocate" by Laura Weinert. Back Stage West June 1, 2000 p. 11
• Alarcon, Alicia, "Diane Rodriguez Has Taken the Chicano Struggle to New Places in Hollywood", La Opinion, 11 December 1989

External links

• Official site
• LatinoLA/People: A Significant and Enduring Influence. Diane Rodriguez is a Latino theatre professional. By Kat Avila Published on LatinoLA: March 16, 2003…
• Chicano research library Latino Theatre Initiative papers