Tanya Saracho

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Sources: 1.)Saracho, Tanya. "Tanya Saracho: Biography." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. 2.)Pollock, Matt. "13 Questions for Tanya Saracho." Chicago Magazine Arts Culture. Chicago Tribune, 15 Jan. 2104. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. 4.)Latorre, Sobeira, and Joanna L. Mitchell. "Performing the "Generic Latina": A Conversation with Teatro Luna." Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism 7.1 (2006): 19-37. Project Muse. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. 5.)Teatro Luna. WordPress, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2015. <http://teatroluna.org/>. 3.)"Artist Bios: Tanya Saracho." Goodman Theater. Goodman Theater, Apr. 2011. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. 6.) Reid, Kerry. "TANYA SARACHO: Catching the Wheel." American Theatre 04 2011: 38-40. ProQuest. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. 7.)Palmer, Tanya. "Inside the Violence: An Interview with the Playwright." American Theatre 07 2011: 70-1. ProQuest. Web. 2 Dec. 2015 . 8.) "TheINTERVAL | Tanya Saracho." TheINTERVAL. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. <https://the-interval.com/interviews/2014/10/29/tanya-saracho/#.Vl9YmeuGtUQ>.

Tanya Selene Saracho was born in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico and is a current Chicago-based playwright and actress (1)(4). Her father was head of customs and was recognized as a figure in the Partido Revolucionario Institucional, which provided her with a more privileged childhood (7). After her parents divorce, her childhood was split between Mexico, where her father lived and McAllen, Texas, a region between Mexico and Texas by the border where she and her mother chose to reside (8)(7). She lived this life of duality, for seven years, having gone to high school in McAllen, until Saracho enrolled in Boston University, where she studied theater and earned her BFA (7)(8)(2).

Her career started when she moved to Chicago in 1998 with her college roommate (7)(8). She first tried working mostly as an actress, but found her opportunities as a Latina were limited (4). In 2000, after having met Coya Paz at an audition, the two founded Teatro Luna, a self proclaimed all Latina theater group (4). After working as a co-artistic director for 10 years, having taken part in the creation of numerous works, including “Machos”, “The Maria Chronicles” and “S-E-X-Oh!”, Saracho parted with Teatro Luna in January of 2010 (4)(5). 

The transition into more independent work was easy for Saracho, having already done some, such as her adaptation of “The House on Mango Street” at the Steppenwolf Theater and her pieces “Kita y Fernanda” at the 16th Street Theater and “Our Lady of the Underpass” as Teatro Vista, which both received nominations for the Joseph Jefferson Award Citation for New Work of a Play, all in 2009.(1)(6)(7) She even had the chance to do some outside acting during her time at Teatro Luna, in “Electricidad” by Luis Alfaro at the Goodman Theater in 2004 (7). One of the first things done after leaving Teatro Luna was “El Nogalar” for the Goodman Theater, co-produced with Teatro Vista, as a reconstruction of Anton Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” set in Mexico.(6)(7) Despite moving from storefront theaters to larger scaled stages such as the Goodman and Steppenwolf, Saracho still kept true to her storefront start, referring to herself in an interview in 2010 as “Storefront Saracho”(6) (7).  

Overall her theater career has lead her plays to be put on at many different theaters, including The Goodman Theater, Steppenwolf Theater Company, Teatro Vista, Teatro Luna, Fountain Theater, Clubbed Thumb, Next Theater Company, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival and 16th Street Theater (3)(1). She has also had commissions at some of these theaters, and others, including the Goodman Theater, Steppenwolf Theater Company, Two rivers Theater, Denver Theater Center, and South Coast Rep (1)(6).

More current works include “Mala Hierba” at the Second Stage Uptown and “Hushabye” as part of Steppenwolf”s First Look in 2014(8). However, Saracho’s career transitioned a bit in 2012 when she began working in television (8). Thus far she has written for Lifetime’s “Devious Maids”, HBO’s “Girls” and “Looking”, which she is currently writing for, along with ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder”(1). She has even pitched her own work, “Mala Hierba” to HBO as a television show (2).

Additional accolades and involvements, includes being a member of The Kilroy’s since it’s inception, an actress for SAG/AFTA and works as voice over actress. Saracho was named Best New Playwright by Chicago Magazine, one of the 9 national “Luminarios” by Café Magazine and given the first “Revolucionario” award in theater by the National Museum of Mexican Art (1). She has also won the Goodman’s Ofner Prize, a 3Arts Artists Award and an NEA Distinguished New Play Development Project Grant with About Face Theater. (3)