Micha Espinosa releases new book

IDEA Associate Editor Micha Espinosa has released Monologues for Latino/a Actors: A Resource Guide to Contemporary Latino/a Playwrights for Actors and Teachers, published by Smith and Krause. The collection serves as a gateway into a cultural world that historically has been ignored by other resource guides. Readers are introduced to the rich, vibrant contribution that U.S. Latinos and Latin American performers offer to our culture. The book offers more than 100 monologues and highlights the work of 42 playwrights.

A seasoned voice, speech, and acting coach, professor Espinosa provides specific commentary and suggestions with each monologue so that readers will be able to best illuminate the characterizations in their auditions and performances. The book has a compelling foreword by Oscar-nominated and renowned playwright Jose Rivera and expanded biographies into each playwright’s work and life by Arizona State University assistant professor of film Jason Davids Scott, a seasoned biographer.

Espinosa, a teaching artist whose work and research centers on giving voice to non-dominant students who study theatre, became aware of this unmet need for material that reflects and portrays the history, culture, and aesthetic of the Latino experience. Her stated goal was to “combat the pervasive invisibility and stereotyping of Latino life in the theatre. Monologues for Latino/a Actors will help create more confident, creative and, culturally competent actors.”