The Austin Latino New Play Festival (ALNPF) was held this weekend at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, where play writers got to premiere their work to an audience and get their thoughts in the talkback session after the play. The plays My Dad is a Pterodactyl, Primas, Más Cara, and Mamacita and the Negrito were in this year’s festival written by Andrew Valdez, Roxanne Schroeder-Arce, Krysta Gonzeles, and Emilio Rodriguez, respectively.

At the sixth year the ALNPF, the Latino-focused plays were a more mature in terms of revision due to a public reading held earlier in the year. Producer Project Manager of the ALNPF Dolores Diaz says the festival is a sort of peek behind the curtains for the public. This rings true for the overall feel of the festival, both backstage and onstage. Backstage, the production crew for Mamacita and the Negrito are all laughs. While onstage is bare with just stools and a sheet stand, a typical view for rehearsals, is unusual for a premiere.

The audience waiting for the showtime of Mamacita and the Negrito. (Photo Credits: Jordan Kasprzynski)

First-timer at the ALNPF was Krysta Gonzales, whose play Más Cara premiered Friday, found the experience to be nurturing. “I had one moment where I got some critical feedback and I wrote the same note that they {an audience member} had.”

In a time when people don’t just experience events like the Super Bowl or the Oscars with the people and TV around them, but with the people online as well, the incorporation of the “Social Media Seats” was created. These seats are designated in an area that will not distract from the rest of the audience and media approved by Teatro Vivo, where people got free tickets to sit in on the play and live-tweet the play and talkback sessions.

The Austin Latino New Play Festival is hosted in collaboration with Teatro Vivo and Scriptworks. (Photo Credits: Jordan Kasprzynski)

“Maybe what sticks with you five minutes ago doesn’t stick a month ago…this is a way to check back,” says Diaz.

This new feature at the ALNPF is planning to grow after its inception, where Diaz hopes will create a conversation online through the designated hash tags that can go for as long as there is a discussion to be had on the topic.