Our
History
Over 27 Years, Cara Mía Theatre has grown into the largest Latinx theatre in Texas, and has become a local and national cultural resource.
27 years of remarkable growth and cultural impact
Founded in 1996, Cara Mía Theatre has become the largest Latinx theatre in Texas, a leader of Latinx theatre on the local and national scene with diverse artistic and community programming, a million-dollar annual operating budget, and a historic residency at the City of Dallas Latino Cultural Center.
Inception
In 1996, co-founder Eliberto Gonzalez founded Cara Mía Theatre because he believed that Chicano literature and its writers ought to be more accessible to the general public.
With Adelina Anthony, Gonzalez started the company as a vehicle to bring the Mexican-American experience to Dallas stages.
Growth
The cultural breadth of CMT’s plays has since expanded and the company’s artistic approach has simultaneously evolved, especially since the arrival of current Executive Artistic Director David Lozano in 2002.
To expand the company’s reach to non-theatre-going Latinos, Lozano chose to focus on creating new bilingual plays that were both topical and theatrically unique.
Trained in physical theatre, Lozano formed a resident artistic ensemble that devised new works in the form of clown and mask performance, poetic movement, and topical, issue-driven plays to speak to the experiences of the local Latinos.
Present
Currently, CMTC is one of the few Latinx theatres in the nation to produce 4-5 mainstage productions each season.
The breadth of CMT’s plays has also evolved over the years to reach to non-theatre-going Latinos. Moreover, through theatrical productions that speak to universal human values, CMT seeks to give voice to communities of color.
CMT has made a commitment to a value system that supports an original aesthetic, excellence in practice, cultural authenticity, and social justice. CMT’s productions use these values to unearth history, create new perspectives, and give voice to underrepresented communities not limited to the Latinx demographic.
Future
Cara Mía Theatre’s 27-year history has prepared our organization for this transformational moment. Cara Mía Theatre has grown into the largest Latinx theatre in Texas and one of the largest in the United States. Today, Cara Mía Theatre’s strategic plan sets a course for the organization to be a national destination for Latinx theatre for the next 27 years.