Grant Helps Fund La Gente: Latino Theater at Reno Little Theater

In 2015 Reno Little Theater received a grant to help fund a new series, “La Gente: Latino Theater at RLT.” This series featured Latino plays throughout the year: a young audiences play, a nationally recognized play, and a new work commissioned by Nevada-born playwright, Marvin Gonzalez, who recently joined the Community Foundation as a Development Assistant. Gonzalez’s play, Lights Out, takes place in the aftermath of a giant Coronal Mass Ejection, a solar flare that wipes out Earth’s electrical grid and covers it with a giant Aurora Borealis.  A young Latino couple traveling through Nevada, finds themselves stuck in a creepy farmhouse outside of Elko where they encounter some strange visitors. Though Lights Out borrows from the troupes of 1950s alien invasion and cabin in the woods horror cinema, it turns those troupes on their heads asking subtle questions about race and identity, while also exploring how different people experience faith in the face of tragedy. One of the great features of our grants programs is how they connect people to our community, even when they aren’t living in northern Nevada.

“I wrote this play while I was in grad school in Arizona,” says Gonzalez. “I would have never guessed that two years later, I’d be working for an organization that helped get my play on its feet. I guess, now I have a chance to play my small part in returning the favor to others who want to touch the community through their passions.”