Actor, director and artistic director Henry Godinez says that one of the great privileges of his artistic career is the work he does with many contemporary Latino playwrights. Born in Havana, Cuba, Godinez is a leader in Chicago Latino theater. He is Resident Artistic Associate at the Goodman Theatre and the director of the Goodman's biennial Latino Theatre Festival, featuring international, national and local Latino theatre companies. He is the co-founder of Teatro Vista, Theatre with a View, a theater committed to sharing Latino culture with all Chicago audiences, and he served as its artistic director for the first five years.

For Romeo y Julieta, Godinez is working with Washington D.C.-based playwright Karen Zacarías to create an all-new, 75-minute bilingual adaptation of Shakespeare’s play. The bilingual text reflects the experiences of people in Spanish-speaking American communities, who frequently grow up speaking Spanish at home and English at school and with their friends. Godinez is doing the initial cut of Shakespeare’s text, and he and Zacarías, through the workshop week at CST, will work out the interweaving of Spanish, Spanglish and English to reflect the characters’ generational ties, their personal allegiances and the journeys they take through the arc of the play.

Godinez directed the world premiere of Karen Zacarías’ Mariela in the Desert, and is excited to have an opportunity to work with her again. Besides being “a wonderful collaborator, a lovely person, with a great sense of humor and just a joy to work with,” Godinez says that she has “a really beautiful sense of language and imagery in language. She paints pictures with her words. It’s very important when you are dealing with Shakespeare to make the language that is evocative and visual.”

Zacarías is the Founding Artistic Director of Washington D.C.’s Young Playwrights’ Theater, an organization that teaches playwriting to young people to encourage literacy, creativity and self-expression while developing a new generation of playwrights whose views are traditionally underrepresented in the theater and the community. As Godinez points out, her experience gives her “a real sensibility for young people and their language, including their need to express themselves. Her connections with young people in the community are valuable assets to have in a situation like this.” Collaborators Godinez and Zacarías will be working through email and over the phone until the workshop, when Zacarías will be in residence at CST for four days.

Henry Godinez, actor, director y director artístico, dice que unos de los honores mas grandes en su carrera artística es el trabajo que hace con los nuevos autores dramáticos Latinos. Nacido en la Habana, Cuba es un director delantero en la comunidad del teatro Latino en Chicago. Es asociado artístico en el Goodman Theatre y director del bienal Festival Teatro Latino, que da importancia a los teatros latinos internacionales, nacionales y locales. Godinez es co-fundador de Teatro Vista y trabajaba como el director artístico por cinco años. Teatro Vista, un teatro ambicioso, tiene los intentos de compartir la cultura Latina con la comunidad de Chicago.

En esa producción de Romeo y Julieta, Godinez trabaja con Karen Zacarías, autora dramática en Washington D.C, para crear una nueva adaptación bilingüe que dura 75 minutos. El texto bilingüe refleja a las experiencias de las hispanoamericanas que habían criado hablando el español en casa e ingles en la escuela y con amigos. Primero, Godinez revisará el texto de Shakespeare y durante la semana de ensayos el y Zacarías decidirán a donde poner el inglés, el spanglish, y el español que refleja las generaciones, las fidelidades y los cursos que caminan los caracteres.

Godinez dirigió el estreno mundial de Mariela in the Desert, escrito por Karen Zacarías, y esta emocionado con la oportunidad de colaborar juntos otra vez. Además de siendo “una colaboradora maravillosa, una mujer amable con gran humor y un placer en el trabajo,” Godinez dice que Karen tiene “un gran talento con lenguaje y con los imágenes que el lenguaje evocan. Se pinta con las palabras. Ese talento es necesario para trabajar con el texto de Shakespeare.”

Zacarías es la fundadora y directora artística del teatro Jóvenes Escritores (Young Playwrights Theater) en Washington D.C. Jóvenes Escritores es una organización que enseña jóvenes a escribir obras. Ellos quieren estimular los jóvenes a crear, leer y escribir mas, y expresar sus propias personalidades porque los ideas de jóvenes no están representado en el teatro ni en la comunidad. Godinez dice que “la sensibilidad que Karen tiene pare el lenguaje de los jóvenes y sus deseos de expresar sus propias personalidades vale mucho a nosotros.” Colaboradores Godinez y Zacarías trabajarán por e-mail y teléfono hasta que Zacarías estará en residencia con CST.