Victoria Espinosa (March 26, 1922 – July 6, 2019) was a Puerto Rican theatre director and academic, who was Professor of Theatre at the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad de Puerto Rico;'' often shortened to UPR) is the main List of state and territorial universities in the United States, public university system in the Commonwealth (U.S. i ...

. Compared to other Puerto Rican theatre pioneers, such as Myrna Casas and Gilda Navarra, Espinosa directed over 120 plays during the course of her career, founded Puerto Rico Theatrón Theater Workshop and the Puerto Rico Actors' Association, and became known as "the 'grand dame' of Puerto Rican theatre".

Early life and education

Born on March 26, 1922, in the Trastalleres neighbourhood of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

, her father, Eduviges Espinosa, was a bricklayer and poet, and her mother, Isolina Torres, was a housewife.

Biracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mul ...

(her father was black, her mother white), Espinosa experienced racial discrimination as a child. Espinosa attended the

(UPR) for her undergraduate degree in Drama, graduating in 1949, having been taught by Leopoldo Santiago Lavandero, and Ludwig Schajowicz. She was later awarded an MA in Hispanic Studies. She then completed her doctorate in Practical Drama at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM), which was awarded in 1968.

Career

At her retirement in 2010, Espinosa held the position of Professor Emeritus of Theatre at the University of Puerto Rico. She started her career at the university, directing the children's theatre. This programme trained a number of performers including: Luis Rafael Sánchez, Pedro Santaliz, and Rafael Acevedo. Whilst working there she founded Puerto Rico Theatrón Theater Workshop. One of its notable productions in the 1970s, ''Areyto Pessoro,'' depicted the life of Taino people, who were indigenous to Puerto Rico. From 1984 to 1988 she managed the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. She also founded the Puerto Rico Actors' Association. Other Puerto Rican directors Espinosa has been compared to are Myrna Casas and Gilda Navarra. Espinosa also acted at two points in her career: during her doctoral studies in Mexico, and when she was in her 90s. During the latter period she took roles in Moliere's '' Las Preciosa Ridiculas'' and Samuel Beckett's '' Rockaby.''

Theatre direction

Espinosa directed over 120 plays during the course of her career. In 1958 she directed '' Los soles truncos (The Half-Suns)'', written by René Marques at the First Puerto Rican Theatre Festival. This collaboration was a success and Espinosa was the only person to direct that play for the following thirty years. She also staged the plays of her former student, Luis Rafael Sánchez, collaborating with him often. In 1978 she directed the world premiere of ''

The Public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

,'' a play by Federico García Lorca. The play was written in 1930, but could not be performed at the time due to its homosexual themes. Her staging included surrealistic paintings. Another notable production by Espinosa was that of '' La Isla Antilla'' by

Tere Marichal Maria Teresa "Tere" Marichal Lugo, (born May 24, 1956) better known as her character Maria Chuzema is a Puerto Rican actor, writer, ventriloquist, playwright and television personality. For 25 years starting in 1987, her television show, *La Casa ...

, which went on tour to North America in 1996. Espinosa is also recognised as "singlehandedly" establishing

experimental theatre Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Richard Wagner, Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu Roi, Ubu plays as a rejection of bot ...

in Puerto Rico. She also directed ''El archivo'', a play by Tadeus Rosewicz, which was performed by the Theatre Company of the Student Council, which established them as a more serious company.

Awards and recognition

The ''Who's Who of Contemporary World Theatre'' referred to Espinosa as "the 'grand dame' of Puerto Rican theatre" and in 1997 she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the XII International Theatre Festival, which was held in Miami. The Federico García Lorca Casa Natal Museum awarded Espinosa their highest accolade, the Pozo de Plata, in 2000. In the same year the Music Hall Theater in Santurce was renamed Teatro Victoria Espinosa in her honour. Espinosa and her husband featured in the documentary series ''Crónicas 90'', which highlighted the achievements of Puerto Ricans who had reached the age of 90. Other people featured in the series included: Frank H. Wadsworth, José R. Alicea, Iluminado Dávila, Nellie Vera Sánchez and Flavia Lugo de Marichal. In 2022 the centenary of her birth was celebrated with lectures and performances at

. These events were also part of Week for the Eradication of Racism and the Affirmation of African Descent, which in turn took place within UN International Decade for People of African Descent (2012-2024), and linked to Espinosa's biracial heritage. In 2024 the Puerto Rican festival La Campechada was dedicated to Espinosa, and featured performances across Santurce inspired by guiding themes of her life, such as gender and theatre.

Personal life

In 1953 Espinosa married surrealist artist Luis Maisonet; they had two children. She died on July 6, 2019, aged 97. She was buried at the

Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery __NOTOC__ The Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery () is a colonial-era Catholic cemetery located in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the final resting place of many of Puerto Rico's most prominent natives and residents. Construction began in ...

References

External links

Archive at the University of Puerto Rico
{{DEFAULTSORT:Espinosa, Victoria 1922 births 2019 deaths Burials at Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery Puerto Rican theatre directors Puerto Rican academics University of Puerto Rico alumni University of Puerto Rico faculty National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni People from San Juan, Puerto Rico American women theatre directors 20th-century Puerto Rican actresses