• Oscar Franco, Treasurer
  • (he/him) is a teacher, theatre maker, and advocate for Latinx arts based in Austin, TX. As a theatre maker, he has done work as a director, stage manager, actor, designer, and producer with various organizations in and around Austin. Oscar is currently a board member with Teatro Vivo. As an educator, Oscar has worked as an arts instructor and programming director with the Indigenous Cultures Institute’s summer arts camp in San Marcos since 2013. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin, receiving a BFA in Theatre Education. Currently, he works as a middle school math teacher in Austin, TX.

• Mateo Hernandez
  • is a queer, Latinx theatre maker, applied theatre practitioner, pedagogue, and scholar. They are an MFA candidate in Drama & Theatre for Youth & Communities at The University of Texas at Austin, where their research interests include queering pedagogies and performance. They have worked with companies such as UrbanTheatre Co., Filament Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Teatro Vivo, Cara Mia Theatre, and Creative Action. Mateo is the 2023 recipient of the Don and Elizabeth Doyle Fellowship from the American Alliance for Theatre & Education. Mateo is a company member with For Youth Inquiry (FYI), a performance company in Chicago, IL, making participatory theatre around issues of reproductive justice. They are also a member of the Board of Directors for Teatro Vivo in Austin, TX, a theatre company focused on showcasing Latinx experiences. You can learn more and connect with Mateo at mateohernandez.org.

• Barbara Mojica 
  • is originally from León Guanajuato, Mexico. She began her artistic career at the age of 8 in a small town on the Mexico/Texas border, Miguel Aleman Tamaulipas, where she performed on stage with the local youth theater company. Once she migrated to the US with her family at the age of 10, Barbara focused on her academics and breaking barriers. Barbara has proudly done so, by collaborating as an actor and Stage Manager, with fantastic theater companies such as Teatro Vivo, (Enfrascada, Yana Wana’s Legend of the BlueBonnet) The Vortex,(Mas Cara, The Odyssey) The Latino Comedy Project (Estarguars)  and Teatro de La Tierra (Beto, Beto El Abeto) and more.

• Madison Palomo (She/They/Ella)
  • is a Latinx actor and educator from the Rio Grande Valley based in Austin, TX. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin, receiving her BFA in Acting, and is currently an MFA candidate at UT Austin studying Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities. She plans to cultivate her theatre-making craft through arts integration pedagogy and participatory research to devise plays about and with the Latinx community nationwide. Palomo has worked with the Austin New Theatre scene as a collaborator, actor, teaching artist, and writer. Her most recent acting credits include the premiers of Sunny Days (originating the role as Pink Sock/Little Gabi) with The Vortex, In Sisters We Trust or My F*cked Up American Girl Doll Play (originating the role of Maggie/Kaya) with the University of Texas at Austin, Lifted (originating the role of Ria) with Filigree Theatre and toured nationally with Cenicieta (Belinda), with Glass Half Full Theatre. Recently, Palomo has been experimenting with different forms of storytelling, such as playwriting, physical theatre, puppetry, short stories, and poetry. Palomo’s focus in writing and devising her stories is her family, where she shares grief and reconnection with the dead. Her most recent puppet work, Abuela, premiered in the Austin Puppet Incident Festival, a collaboration between Glass Half Full Theatre and Troubled Puppet Theatre Company.

• Maria Solis 
  • has been following Teatro Vivo since its founding when she won tickets to the season’s productions. She was hooked and became a regular volunteer. She served at receptions, sold tickets, and helped behind the scenes, doing whatever was needed. She has been a massage therapist for 35 years and, in recent years, a community health worker. She is a member of the Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin and has served on several City of Austin Boards and Commissions and other community committees. 

• Genevieve Schroeder-Arce,
  • 19, is an Indigenous-Latina artist, activist, writer, and proud member of the Miakan-Garza Band of Coahuiltecans. She is currently an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, majoring in Native American and Indigenous Studies on a pre-law track. She plans to focus on American Indian law to advance tribal self-determination for her nation and others across the states. Genevieve has served as an Assistant Instructor at the Indigenous Cultures Institute in San Marcos, Texas, where she teaches Indigenous youth about their heritage in a decolonized way. She recently joined the board of Teatro Vivo, a theatre company centering Latinx and Indigenous storytelling for youth and communities.

• Jessica Peña-Torres (she/her)
  • is a dancer/theatre artist focused on Mexican identity and performance. In 2014, she graduated Summa Cum Laude from The University of Texas—Pan American (now The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley) with a double-major in Dance and Theatre and a minor in Spanish. At UTPA, Peña Torres performed with the Latino Theatre Initiatives, the UTPA Dance Ensemble, and the UTPA Ballet Folklórico. In 2020, Peña Torres obtained an M.A. in Performance as Public Practice from the University of Texas at Austin, where she is now pursuing a Ph.D. AT UT,  Peña Torres co-founded The Latinx Theatre Initiative, a student organization that centered Latinx arts and culture. In both Mexico and the U.S, Jessica has had a chance to work and perform for big and small arts organizations, such as Maru Montero Dance Company, Ballet Folclórico Nacional de México de Silvia Lozano, Indigenous Cultures Institute, Teatro Vivo, and Groundfloor Theatre. With her company, Coctel Explosivo, Peña Torres produces dance-theatre works that explore the intersection between nationalism, identity, and the performing arts in México.

• Roxanne Schroeder-Arce
  • is an administrator, scholar, artist, teacher, and arts advocate. She is Associate Dean of UTeach Fine Arts and Associate Professor of Theatre Education at the University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance. Her artistry, pedagogy, and scholarship are intertwined and deeply inform her administrative practice. Her bilingual plays have been presented to children and families in multiple theatres around the United States. Her titles Señora Tortuga, Legend of the Poinsettia, Sangre de un Ángel, and Mariachi Girl are available through Dramatic Publishing. Her most recently published play, Yana Wana’s Legend of the Bluebonnet (co-authored with María F. Rocha) won a distinguished play award from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. She is also one of three playwrights of Papakō: The Journey. Schroeder-Arce’s research interests include culturally responsive theatre education and ethnic representation in theatre for young audiences. She has published articles in journals such as Research in Drama Education, International Journal for Education & the Arts, Youth Theatre Journal, TYA Today, Theatre Topics, and Gestos, and chapters in books including Latinos and American Popular Culture and Nerds, Goths, Geeks, and Freaks: Outsiders in Chicanx/Latinx Young Adult Literature. Schroeder-Arce has offered extensive academic, community, national and international service. She currently serves on the Board of Teatro Vivo and the steering committee of the national Latinx Theatre Commons. She is also a non-Indigenous member of the Board of Elders of the Indigenous Cultures Institute in San Marcos. Read more at her website: http://www.roxannearce.com.

For more information, contact us at teatrovivoaustin@gmail.com.