Radio Plays in the Time of Corona

Marfa Live Arts presents Ranchland a radio play by Martha Annette Mendoza of Marfa, Texas with actors Georgina Escobar, Gary Oliver, Omar Coronel, Rosario Chacón, Nick Bustillos, Sam Walker, Pam Breithaupt, Primo Carrasco and Giselle De La Rosa. Ranchland is the winner of the Marfa Live Arts' Short Playwriting Contest which was held in Presidio County and Ojinaga, Mexico. The play, which was described as “bold and over-seasoned in a good way,” by playwright jurist Raul Garza, focuses on border issues and attitudes.Mendoza shares her thoughts on writing Ranchland, “My intention isn't to embarrass anyone but hoping to raise peoples' awareness and open them up to have compassion and help others. Everyone can share a smile or wave that could brighten someone's day. And acts of kindness help everyone just like giving a bottle of water can save a life.”The story, Mendoza continues, looks not only at the attitudes of some people toward undocumented immigration, but at why migrants would want to make such an expensive, potentially deadly trek. “The story is really about unrequited love. The love of a life in the United States, the love of the American Dream, the love of any promise of a future.”Ranchland is part of Marfa Live Arts' ongoing series Radio Plays In The Time of Corona, and is available on Spotify and iTunes. For more information and to get involved go to: www.marfalivearts.orgDirector and Sound Design by Tina Rivera. Produced by Marfa Live Arts.  Sponsors for this program include the National Endowment for the Arts, the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation and the Texas Commission on the Arts. 

Marfa Live Arts with KMKB FM presents Radio Plays in the Time of Corona, four radio plays written by award-winning Marfa, Texas high school playwrights and brought to life by actors: Diana Burbano, David DeLaO, Robert A. Kraft, Giselle Marie Muñoz, Arthur Ruíz and Mónica Sánchez.The plays are: Friend or Foe: Legend of the Hellhound by Devin Meierhoff; No Compass by Aubrie Aguilar; It's Not Always Sunshine and Rainbows at Coneset Hill by Febi Brimhall; and Rona by Avery Beltran.The plays were written by Marfa High School students during the 9th Playwriting Program hosted by Marfa Live Arts and taught by New York playwright Caridad Svich. Usually, the winning student plays are staged using adult actors for the community at the Crowley Theater, however, due to COVID-19, the plays were unable to be produced. Making lemonade out of pandemic lemons – Marfa Live Arts decided to adapt and to instead produce Radio Plays in the Time of Corona in order to showcase these young playwright’s words. We hope you enjoy listening to them. Learn more and please support our work at: marfalivearts.orgThis program is generously supported by the National Endowment of the Arts, KMKB FM Marfa, Texas Women for the Arts, Rea Charitable Trust and Texas Commission for the Arts. This program could not be realized without the collaboration of Marfa Independent School District, Superintendent Oscar Aguero, Linda Ojeda, Allison Scott and NYC Playwright Caridad Svich. Special thanks to Ryan Rooney, Tina Rivera, Ian Lewis, Jason Kolker, Colby Martin, Yoseff BenYehuda, Marfa Public Radio, Elise Pepple, Jacob Rockey, Cara Wingard, Cory Van Dyke, Aubrie Aguilar, Susan Vasher and Neil Chavigny. National Endowment for the Arts KMKB KMKB FM Marfa, Texas