Milta Ortiz

Milta Ortiz is a playwright, poet, and performer. Quotes …There’s momentum about making our presence known. We’re here. We’re Latino playwrights and theatre professionals. Eventually there’s going to be a tipping point and more of our stories will become part of the American canon. I write what I know and for now I focus on Latinos because going through school, I longed to read about my experience… On the emergence of Latino writers in “Cafecito: Milta Ortiz” (HOWLROUND THEATRE COMPANY; 2015 Sep 18) …I believe that the more specific you write, the more universal it becomes. I see plays that aren’t Latino all the time. Why shouldn’t my work speak to a broad audience? What if theatre becomes a little more balanced? I believe that as the Latino middle class grows, they’ll buy tickets if there’s theatre for them. On the universality of plays regardless of the subject matter in “Cafecito: Milta Ortiz” (HOWLROUND THEATRE COMPANY; 2015 Sep 18) …For me, interviewing was like being a detective and listening for cues into a story. Ana Deavere Smith says that as an actor she listens for emotions. As a writer I listen for both emotions and details. People sometimes get emotional and sometimes they get descriptive when recalling a memory. Sometimes it seems people are visualizing what they see. Other times memories involve the senses, like the smell of burnt beans, or nana’s eucalyptus leaves… On using interview techniques to research for a play in “Thinking Like a Folklorist: How Writing Docudramas Taught Me to Listen” (Southwest Folklife Alliance; 2019 May 28) External links Category:Hispanic Americans Category:Playwrights from the United States Category:Poets from California Category:Living people Category:Poets from El Salvador Category:Immigrants to the United States Category:Playwrights from El Salvador