Tanya Saracho Explained

Tanya Saracho
Birth Name:Tanya Selene Saracho
Birth Place:Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico
Alma Mater:Boston University
Co-founder of Spanish; Castilian: [[Teatro Luna]]
Years Active:1998–present

Tanya Selene Saracho is a Mexican-American actress, playwright, dramaturge and screenwriter. With a background in theater before writing for television, she co-founded Spanish; Castilian: [[Teatro Luna]] in 2000 and was its co-artistic director for ten years. She also co-founded the Alliance of Latinx Theater Artists (ALTA) of Chicago. She is particularly known for centering the "Latina gaze". She developed and was showrunner of the Starz series Spanish; Castilian: [[Vida (TV series)|Vida]]|italic=yes, which ran for three seasons (2018-2020). Saracho signed a three-year development deal with Starz in February 2018.

Early life

Tanya Selene Saracho[1] was born in Spanish; Castilian: [[Los Mochis]], [[Sinaloa]]|italic=no, Mexico,[2] [3] [4] to Ramiro A. Saracho, head customs officer with the Spanish; Castilian: [[Servicio de Administración Tributaria]][2] [4] and a powerful figure in the conservative Institutional Revolutionary Party,[2] and Rosalina Armenta. After her parents' divorce, her childhood was split between Spanish; Castilian: [[Reynosa]], [[Tamaulipas]]|italic=no, where her father lived, and just across the border in McAllen, Texas,[2] [5] [6] where she and her mother chose to reside together with her two younger sisters Tatiana Saracho and Fresy Saracho.[4] Both cities are part of the bi-national Reynosa–McAllen metropolitan area straddling the Rio Grande (Spanish; Castilian: Río Bravo del Norte). She and her family-members went back and forth between Mexico and the United States often — with her father commuting over the border in 2008.[5] She attended middle and high school in McAllen[2] and enrolled in Boston University College of Fine Arts to study theater, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.[2] [4] [7]

Career

Theater

Saracho has said that a goal of her work is to provide representation for Latinx people and address stereotypes.[8] Her career started in 1998 when she moved to Chicago.[9] [10] Saracho initially attempted to work as an actress, but found that her opportunities as a Latina were limited to typecast roles as maids or sex workers.[10] She would form Spanish; Castilian: [[Teatro Luna]] with Coya Paz in June 2000.[1] [5] [11] [12] [13] The group had an original ensemble of 10 Latina women from diverse backgrounds.[1] [10]

Saracho took part in the creation of numerous works through Spanish; Castilian: Teatro Luna, including Spanish; Castilian: Machos|italic=yes, Spanish; Castilian: Dejame Contarte|italic=inherit (Let Me Tell You), The María Chronicles and Spanish; Castilian: S-E-X-Oh!|italic=yes.[1] [11] Spanish; Castilian: Machos|italic=yes is a play examining "contemporary masculinities",[14] drawn from interviews with 50 men across the U.S.[14] [15] and performed by the all-Latina cast in drag,[14] [16] which earned 2 Non-Equity Jeff Awards.[16]

Saracho parted with the group in January 2010 to focus on playwriting. The same year, she co-founded The Alliance of Latinx Theater Artists (ALTA) of Chicago,[17] [18] [19] [20] which describes itself as "a service organization dedicated to furthering the Chicago Latinx Theater movement by promoting, educating, representing, and unifying Latinx-identified artists and their allies".[21]

Multiple plays that she worked on in this time received nominations for the Jeff Award. She also worked as an outside actor on occasion during her time at Spanish; Castilian: Teatro Luna.[22]

One of her first works after leaving Spanish; Castilian: Teatro Luna was Spanish; Castilian: El Nogalar|italic=yes for the Goodman Theatre, co-produced with Spanish; Castilian: Teatro Vista, as a reconstruction of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard set in the pecan orchards of Northern Mexico amid the drug wars,[23] which ran at the Goodman Theatre from March 26 to April 24, 2011.[24] At that time, she was resident playwright Latin: [[emeritus]] at Chicago Dramatists, resident playwright at Spanish; Castilian: Teatro Vista, a Goodman Theatre Fellow at the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media at Columbia College Chicago and an artistic associate with Chicago's LGBTQ-oriented About Face Theatre. She was also then working on two Andrew W. Mellon Foundation commissions for Steppenwolf Theatre, an adaptation of a Spanish; Castilian: ''Sor'' [[Juana Inés de la Cruz]]|italic=unset play for Oregon Shakespeare Festival called The Tenth Muse,[25] and a historical fiction piece for About Face Theatre called The Good Private. The latter, about a transgender soldier in the American Civil War, was inspired by the story of Albert Cashier, recognized as female on birth in Ireland but who lived out their life in Illinois as a man after fighting for the Union Army. In late 2012, her play Song for the Disappeared about an estranged borderland family brought together by the disappearance of their younger brother, was performed at the Goodman Theatre.[26]

Her 2014 work also included Mala Hierba at the Second Stage Uptown[27] [28] and Hushabye as part of Steppenwolf's First Look in 2014.[29] [30] Saracho's additional involvements include being a member of The Kilroys' List and founding the Ñ Project.[31] Saracho is also a member of SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America West and has worked as a voice-over actress.

Television: In the writers' room

In 2012, Saracho began working in television, benefiting from the ABC Diversity program.[10] In her first TV job, as a staff writer at Lifetime's Devious Maids in 2013,[4] [7] her office-mate told her she was "the diversity writer" and her agent confirmed that she was not costing the showrunner any budget.[32] In 2014, Saracho wrote a two-hander for the Goodman Theatre,[7] where one character was a first-year TV writer and the other a janitor.[7] The Denver Theatre Center commissioned Saracho to expand that work to create Fade, which premièred there in Winter 2016.[20] [33]

After Devious Maids, Saracho wrote for HBO's Girls[4] [34] and Looking (in 2013–14),[4] [7] [34] along with ABC's How to Get Away with Murder. Saracho continued writing for theater while also writing for television, including two theater commissions, one set in Red Bank, New Jersey and the other in Costa Mesa, California. Between seasons of Looking, Saracho worked on The Tenth Muse, an all-female play set in a convent in Colonial Mexico.

Television: As showrunner

Saracho, working with the production company Big Beach,[17] [35] [36] created, co-wrote, and co-produced the show Vida.[32] [37] She assembled an all-Latinx, "heavily queer" writers' room[37] [38] [32]  and directorial team who are all Latinx or women of color.[37] [38] Like much of Saracho's theater work, the dialog in Vida is in Spanglish.

Saracho has said that Starz initially approached her about the show, looking for "a female millennial show about Spanish; Castilian: gentefication, which is the gentrification of a Latinx space. The queerness came from me. I identify as queer, and it had to be there."[32]

In February 2018, Saracho signed a 3-year deal with Starz.[39] [40] She has described season 1 of Vida as a three-hour pilot.

She is also developing another series with Big Beach called Spanish; Castilian: Brujas|italic=yes,[41] based on her 2007 play Spanish; Castilian: Enfrascada|italic=yes,[42] [43] which will follow four Afro-Caribbean / Latinx Chicagoans within the Spanish; Castilian: [[brujería]] counter-culture.

Awards and recognition

Saracho was named the Best New Playwright by Chicago magazine,[23] [17] one of the nine national Spanish; Castilian: Luminarios by Café magazine[23] [17] and given the first Spanish; Castilian: Revolucionario award in theater by the National Museum of Mexican Art.[23] [17] She has also won the Goodman's Ofner Prize,[5] [23] a 3Arts Artists Award[23] [44] and a National Endowment for the Arts Distinguished New Play Development Project Grant with About Face Theater.[23] [45] In January 2019, she was presented with the 2019 Final Draft New Voice Award for Television[43] [46] [47] and won the 2019 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for Spanish; Castilian: Vida|italic=yes.[48]

In June 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride parade, Queerty named her among the fifty heroes “leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people”.[49] [50]

Personal life

Saracho identifies as queer[9] [32] [37] [51] [52] [53] and has a mainly LGBTQ+ social circle.[9] She was diagnosed with diabetes in 2010, of which there is a family history.[5] She has also spoken about suffering from anxiety and impostor syndrome.[20]

By 2008, as a green card-holder, she was the only member of her family who had not naturalized to American citizenship, being unready to renounce her Mexican citizenship.[5] She has said that in 2008, she chose to become a U.S. citizen in order to vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.[5]

Saracho grew up in the trans-border area between Spanish; Castilian: Tamaulipas|italic=no and Texas – a frequent setting for her plays – however she considers herself a Chicagoan. She has also spoken out about racism that she has experienced in Chicago.[34]

She grew up, went to school and to college with fellow Mexican-American actor Raúl Castillo, who she was in a relationship with as a teenager.[9] [34] Castillo is featured in a key episode for his character in Looking.[34] After being disowned by her father in 2014, Saracho took a 2-week trip to Scotland, inspired by her love of Outlander.

Saracho has cited a number of individuals as influences, including the 17th-century nun Spanish; Castilian: [[Juana Inés de la Cruz]]|italic=no, African-American playwrights and professors Lynn Nottage and Lydia R. Diamond, Cuban-American avant-garde playwright Spanish; Castilian: [[María Irene Fornés]]|italic=no, British director Caroline Eves, and LGBT writer and director Luis Alfaro

List of works

Theatre

Television

YearTitleRole(s)Notes
2013Devious MaidsStaff writer
  • Episode 1x07: "Taking a Message"
  • Episode 1x09: "Scrambling the Eggs"
2014–2015LookingStory editor
  • Episode 1x04: "Looking for $220/Hour"
  • Episode 1x06: "Looking in the Mirror"
  • Episode 1x08: "Looking Glass"
  • Episode 2x05: "Looking for Truth"
  • Episode 2x09: "Looking for Sanctuary"
2015Co-producerAll 10 episodes of season 2
Ceci, Richie's cousinEpisode 2x05: "Looking for Truth"
2015–2016How to Get Away with MurderCo-producerEpisodes 2x01–2x06
Writer
  • Episode 2x08: "Hi, I'm Philip"
  • Episode 2x12: "It's a Trap"
2018–2020VidaShowrunnerAll 6 episodes of season 1

Notes and References

  1. Sobeira Latorre . Joanna L. Mitchell . Performing the Generic Latina: A Conversation with Teatro Luna . Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism . . 7 . 1 . 2006 . 19–37 . 40338715 .
  2. News: Tanya Saracho catching the wheel: a Mexico-born play wright steps boldly from Teatro Luna into Chicago's larger scene. . Kerry Reid . . April 1, 2011 . December 21, 2018 . .
  3. News: Inside the violence: an interview with the playwright . Tanya Palmer . . July 1, 2011 . December 21, 2018 . .
  4. News: HBO's Looking Writer Tanya Saracho on Creating Latina Roles and Taking on Twitter Haters . Vanessa Erazo . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150218232552/http://remezcla.com/film/hbos-looking-writer-tanya-saracho-on-creating-latina-roles-and-taking-on-twitter-haters/ . February 6, 2014 . February 18, 2015 . December 20, 2018 .
  5. News: Playwright Tanya Saracho . Kris Vire . . June 15, 2010 . December 23, 2018 .
  6. News: Enfrascada, a dark comedy by Tanya Saracho . . August 25, 2017 . December 29, 2018 .
  7. News: 13 Questions for Tanya Saracho . Matt Pollock . . January 15, 2014 . December 21, 2018 .
  8. Garrett Anderson . October 31, 2017 . Expanding upon the canon of Latinx plays. Spotlight on Tanya Saracho . Journal of Plays and Musicals . . Fall/Winter 2017–2018 . 24–26.
  9. News: Jerry Nunn . December 23, 2014 . Nunn on One: Tanya Saracho on her past with the Goodman . . December 23, 2018.
  10. News: Tanya Saracho . Victoria Myers . The Interval . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150928160058/https://the-interval.com/interviews/2014/10/29/tanya-saracho/ . October 29, 2014 . September 28, 2015 . December 21, 2018 .
  11. Web site: History . . December 22, 2018 .
  12. Web site: Artist Bios: Teatro Luna . . July 2010 . January 25, 2019 .
  13. News: Latina Theater Troupe Makes Art of Identity . March 6, 2014 . January 25, 2019 .
  14. Web site: Exploring contemporary masculinity in Machos with Teatro Luna on December 19 . Illinois Humanities . December 11, 2007 . December 24, 2018 .
  15. Book: Jennifer Domino Rudolph . Embodying Latino Masculinities: Producing Masculatinidad . April 30, 2016 . Springer . 978-1-137-02288-2 . 14 .
  16. News: Dr. Moreau, Jerry Springer, Machos Are Among Jeff Award Winners in Chicago . Kenneth Jones . . June 10, 2008 . February 5, 2019 .
  17. Web site: Member Emeritus . The Alliance of Latinx Theater Artists of Chicago . February 4, 2019 . June 20, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200620195117/http://altachicago.org/emeritus . dead .
  18. Web site: Tanya Saracho . Goodman Theatre 90 Years . . 2015 . December 22, 2018 .
  19. News: Vida Showrunner Tanya Saracho Sets Overall Deal With Starz . Cynthia Littleton . . February 23, 2018 . December 23, 2018 .
  20. Web site: Tanya Saracho . 50 Playwrights . August 1, 2016 . December 23, 2018 .
  21. Web site: Official website . The Alliance of Latinx Theater Artists of Chicago . February 4, 2019 . February 7, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020044/http://altachicago.org/ . dead .
  22. Web site: Electricidad . . December 10, 2011 . December 23, 2018 .
  23. Web site: 2012 . Tanya Saracho . December 23, 2018 . Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
  24. Web site: El Nogalar . . December 9, 2011 . December 23, 2018 .
  25. Web site: The Tenth Muse . . 2013 . December 25, 2018 .
  26. Web site: Song for the Disappeared . . September 12, 2012 . December 23, 2018 . December 25, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181225131453/https://www.goodmantheatre.org/season/1213/Song-for-the-Disappeared/ . dead .
  27. News: Tangled Romances, in Need of Some Pruning . Charles Isherwood . Charles Isherwood . . July 28, 2014 . December 25, 2018 .
  28. News: Off Broadway Review: Mala Hierba . Marilyn Stasio . . July 28, 2014 . December 25, 2018 .
  29. Web site: Hushabye . . 2014 . December 25, 2018 .
  30. News: REVIEW: First Look Repertory in the Steppenwolf Garage . Kerry Reid . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140812052051/https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/reviews/ct-ent-0812-first-look-review-20140811-story.html . August 11, 2014 . August 12, 2014 . December 25, 2018 . limited . . (URL not available in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.) .
  31. Web site: Tanya Saracho . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20181225080900/http://www.bretadamsltd.net/content/client/plays/tanya-saracho/ . December 25, 2018 . December 24, 2018 . Bret Adams Ltd Artists' Agency.
  32. News: How Starz's Vida Created a Safe Space to Explore Latinx and Queer Stories . Pilot Viruet . . May 4, 2018 . December 20, 2018 .
  33. News: Review: Tanya Saracho's Fade Brings Class Struggle to the Denver Center . Juliet Wittman . . February 23, 2016 . December 25, 2018 .
  34. News: Chicago playwright Tanya Saracho lands Girls writing gig . Nina Metz . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20181005122253/https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-xpm-2014-02-20-ct-tanya-saracho-chicago-closeup-20140220-story.html . February 20, 2014 . October 5, 2018 . December 21, 2018 . limited . . (URL not available in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.) .
  35. News: Starz Announces Cast for Half-Hour Drama Series Vida from Latinx Showrunner Tanya Saracho . . November 14, 2017 . February 4, 2019 .
  36. News: Walking the Walk . Michael Pickard . . May 2, 2018 . February 4, 2019 .
  37. News: Vidas Non-Binary Latinx Actor Ser Anzoategui Already Knows Their Show Will Be Your New Favorite . Carmen Phillips . . April 20, 2018 . December 20, 2018 .
  38. News: Tanya Saracho Made Vida With, For and About Latinxs — And She's Not Apologizing . Carmen Phillips . . May 3, 2018 . December 24, 2018 .
  39. News: Dominic Patten . June 19, 2018 . Vidas Tanya Saracho On Starz's East L.A. Drama, Seeing Herself & Having A Vision . . December 23, 2018.
  40. News: Vida Renewed For Second Season By Starz . Denise Petski . . June 12, 2018 . December 23, 2018 .
  41. News: Big Beach Developing Brujas Series With Showrunner Tanya Saracho . Dino-Ray Ramos . . December 5, 2017 . February 4, 2019 .
  42. News: With Vida ready to air, Chicago TV series may be next for Tanya Saracho . Curt Wagner . . May 2, 2018 . February 5, 2019 .
  43. News: Gina's Kick Ass Roles, Bardem & Isaac Get Sci-Fi, Castings & Chisme . B Hernandez . Latin Heat . February 1, 2019 . February 5, 2019 . February 7, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190207015819/https://www.latinheat.com/tv-3/tv-news-tv-3/ginas-kick-ass-roles-bardem-isaac-sci-fy-castings-a-little-bit-of-chisme/ . dead .
  44. Web site: 2017 . Tanya Saracho . December 23, 2018 . 3Arts.
  45. Web site: April 2011 . Artist Bios: Tanya Saracho. . December 2, 2015 . Goodman Theatre.
  46. News: Final Draft Awards: Callie Khouri, Boots Riley, Tanya Saracho To Be Honored . Patrick Hipes . . January 15, 2019 . February 5, 2019 .
  47. 2019 Final Draft Awards: New Voice Recipient Tanya Saracho . . February 1, 2019 . February 5, 2019 . .
  48. News: GLAAD Media Awards: Boy Erased, Pose, Gianni Versace Among Winners . Kimberly Nordyke . . May 4, 2019 . May 6, 2019 .
  49. Web site: Queerty Pride50 2020 Honorees. 2020-06-30. Queerty. en-US.
  50. Web site: Reddish. David. 2020-06-15. Meet the entertainment creators fighting the good fight this year. 2020-06-30. Queerty.
  51. News: Suzy Exposito . May 5, 2018 . Viva la Vida — This New Show About Latinx Queer Folks Is Everything . . . December 20, 2018.
  52. News: Michael Schneider . May 10, 2018 . Vida Creator Tanya Saracho Gives Voice to Latinx Sisters, Brown Queers, and Displaced Neighborhoods — Turn It On Podcast . . December 20, 2018.
  53. News: I Was Obsessed With Outlander—so I Found My Own Love Story in Scotland . Jessica Radloff . . May 6, 2018 . December 22, 2018 .
  54. Book: Arturo J. Aldama . Chela Sandoval . Peter J. García . Performing the US Latina and Latino Borderlands . El Macho: A Performance Perspective Which Tells How the Women of Teatro Luna Became Men . https://www.academia.edu/4994297 . Paloma Martínez-Cruz . Liza Ann Acosta . Indiana University Press . 283–294 . 978-0-253-00877-0 . October 9, 2002 . December 24, 2018 .
  55. News: Jen Goddu . November 9, 2006 . Quita Mitos . . December 24, 2018.
  56. News: Enfrascada finds humor amid heartbreak . Kerry Reid . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20181225005306/https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ott-0420-on-the-fringe-20120419-story.html . April 19, 2012 . December 25, 2018 . December 25, 2018 . limited . . (URL not available in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.) .
  57. News: Chris Jones . March 13, 2009 . Lady of the Underpass is the sort of Chicago story we need on stage . . live . limited . December 25, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181225004513/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2009-03-13-0903110238-story.html . December 25, 2018 . . (URL not available in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.).
  58. News: 2009 . The House on Mango Street . . December 25, 2018.
  59. Web site: 2009 . A Conversation with The House on Mango Street Adaptor Tanya Saracho . December 25, 2018 . Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
  60. News: About Face Theatre Kicks Off 'Out Front Series' — First Workshop To Feature Tony Award Winner Levi Kreis . David Rosenberg . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140906143556/http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/community/chi-ugc-article-about-face-theatre-kicks-off-out-front-series-2013-11-12-story.html . November 12, 2013 . September 6, 2014 . December 25, 2018 .

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