Karen Zacarías

Karen Zacarías pictured from her website.

Biography

Karen Zacarías is one of the most produced U.S. Latinx playwrights. She is a Mexican American playwright from Washington D.C. Zacarías works include THE SINS OF SOR JUANA (1999), THE BOOK CLUB PLAY (2009), LEGACY OF LIGHT (2009), MARIELA IN THE DESERT (2005), THE COPPER CHILDREN (2020), JUST LIKE US (2013), and HOW THE GARCIA GIRLS LOST THEIR ACCENTS (2008). Her work has been developed and produced most notably at The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, The Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage, Round House Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Guthrie Theater, and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. She received her BA from Stanford University and her MA in Creative Writing from Boston University. Zacarías is the founder of The Young Playwrights’ Theatre which received a 2010 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She also co-founded the Latinx Theatre Commons. Zacarías is the recipient of many awards such as the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play, the New Voices Award, and the National Latino Play Award.

Career Highlight

Zacarías is the first playwright-in-residence at Arena Stage in Washington D.C. Her award-winning theatre company, the Young Playwrights’ Theatre, dedicated to teaching playwriting in public schools of the D.C. area, has one of the most innovative curriculums in the nation. Her curriculum, published on Amazon as “WRITE TO DREAM” is now being used in public schools across the country including New Orleans, Detroit, Virginia, Texas, and Maryland.

Native Gardens

  • Breakdown:
    • 1W Latinx, 1W Anglo, 1M Latinx, 1M Anglo, 2 to 4 M or W ensemble: preferably Latinx
  • Synopsis:
    • Tania, a PhD candidate and her husband Pablo, a successful lawyer hoping to make partner, move into their new home in an upscale area. Frank and Virginia Butley, their neighbors, although welcoming at first, become upset when Pablo and Tania claim the Butley’s beloved garden goes beyond their property line. Border disputes, internalized racism, classism, and more are called into question in this hilarious comedy centered around disagreements with something familiar to most: disputes with one’s neighbors.  
  • Development/Production History:
    • Commissioned by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 2016
    • Guthrie Theatre, 2017
    • Victory Gardens, 2017
    • Arena Stage, 2017
    • Old Globe Theatre, 2018
    • Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 2018
    • Trinity Repertory Theatre, 2018
    • Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, 2018
    • Florida Studio Stage, 2018
    • Vermont Stage, 2017
    • WaterTower Theatre, 2017
  • Photos:
Paul DeBoy as Frank Butley, Anne-Marie Cusson as Virginia Butley, and Monica Rae Summers Gonzalez as Tania Del Valle in Native Gardens. 
(Native Gardens, Syracuse Stage, 2018)
Photo by Michael Davis.
Jacqueline Correa as Tania Del Valle, Dan Domingues as Pablo Del Valle, Sally Wingert as Virginia Butley, and Steve Hendrickson as Frank Butley in Native Gardens. 
(Native Gardens, The Guthrie Theatre, 2017) 
Photo by Dan Norman.
Kimberli Flores as Tania Del Valle, Eddie Martinez as Pablo Del Valle, Peri Gilipin as Virginia Butley, and Mark Pinter as Frank Butley in Native Gardens. 
(Native Gardens, The Old Globe, 2018)
Photo by Jim Cox.
  • Plays
    • The Sins of Sor Juana (1999)
    • Mariela in the Desert (2005)
    • How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (2008)
    • The Book Club Play (2009)
    • Legacy of Light (2009)
    • Just Like Us (2013)
    • Our War (2014)
    • Destiny of Desire: A Brechtian Telenovela (2015)
    • Into the Beautiful North (2016)
    • Native Gardens (2019)
    • The Copper Children (2020)
  • Musicals, in collaboration with composer Deborah Wicks La Puma
    • Ferdinand the Bull (2000)
    • The Magical Piñata (2001)
    • Einstein is a Dummy (2004)
    • Cinderella Eats Rice and Beans (2008)
    • Chasing George Washington: A White House Adventure (2008)
    • Frida Libre (2011)
    • Jane of the Jungle (2012)
    • Looking for Roberto Clemente (2013)
    • Ella Enchanted (2016)
    • OLIVÉRio: A Brazilian Twist (2018)

Reflection on Contribution to Anti-Racist Theatre

Karen Zacarías is a leader in anti-racist and Latinx theatre. Her willingness to challenge social norms and call for change are inspirational and powerful for not only those within the Latinx community, but also the whole country. She provides a huge source of self-reflection and a call to action. Karen Zacarías’ works excel in taking a unique approach to comment and critique themes, including identity, class, race, education, and immigration. In works such as Native Gardens, Zacarías questions our perceptions and opinions on these themes through a seemingly innocuous dispute and explores the discord amongst and outside the Latinx community. Zacarías can root out the everyday racism that comes from white privilege and the foundations of this country.

Zacarías’ love for helping others is very prevalent in not only her works but also her contributions in the Young Playwrights’ Theatre’s efforts and the Latinx Theatre Commons, which is a national effort to transform the narrative of the American Theatre, to amplify the visibility of Latinx performance making, and to champion equity through advocacy, art making, convening, and scholarship. The efforts of both organizations center around making anti-racist theater accessible to everyone in this country.

Further, Zacarías has greatly contributed to cultural explorations, particularly in the Latinx and Mexican American communities. Her use of Spanish in her dialogue, her creation of narratives that explore the discord in the Latinx community, and the respect she gives to each character create a space for knowledge, empathy, and unity.

Compiled by Isabel Ruiz Maiz, FTT and Psychology, Graduation date: May 2023