Luis Alfaro

Luis Alfaro
Luis Alfaro at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, September 2019
Born
Luis Alfaro

1963 (age 60–61)
Los Angeles, California
Occupations
  • Performance artist
  • playwright
  • theater director
  • social activist
Years active1992–present

Luis Alfaro (born 1963 in Los Angeles) is a Chicano performance artist, writer, theater director, and social activist.

He grew up in the Pico Union district near downtown Los Angeles and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in East Los Angeles. His plays and fiction are set in Los Angeles' Chicano barrios including the Pico Union district; they sometimes feature gay, lesbian, and working-class themes.[1] Many of Alfaro's plays reference AIDS in Latino communities.[2] Some of his noted plays are "Bitter Homes and Gardens," "Pico Union," "Downtown," "Cuerpo Politizado," "Straight as a Line," "Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner," "No Holds Barrio," and "Black Butterfly." Many of the plays also have been published as stories or poetry. He is an associate professor in the School of Dramatic Arts at the University of Southern California;[3] from 2013 to 2019, he was the playwright-in-residence at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

  1. ^ Pérez, Daniel Enrique (2006). "Luis Alfaro". In Gerstner, David A. (ed.). Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer Culture (1 ed.). Routledge. p. 36. ISBN 9780415306515. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
  2. ^ Román, David. "'Teatro Viva!' Latino Performance and the Politics of AIDS in Los Angeles," in ¿Entiendes? Queer Readings, Hispanic Writings, edited by Emilie L. Bergman and Paul Julian Smith (eds.), Duke University Press, Durham, 1995, pp. 346–69
  3. ^ trevorboffone (2016-04-22). "Luis Alfaro". Retrieved 2017-09-09.