Oral history interview with Hugo Medrano

Hugo Medrano, producer and artistic director of the GALA Hispanic Theatre, spoke about the Grupo de Artistas LatinoAmericanos (GALA) Hispanic Theatre, including its history, mission, awards including Helen Hayes award, role in the neighborhood community, and performing in various cities in and outside of the United States. He explained non-traditional casting, including working with people across different races and ethnicities, and who spoke different languages; the challenges of performing plays in both Spanish and English; and how the type of performances and subject of plays changed based on their audience, sometimes the plays reflected the reality of Latin America and other times they performed "normal plays." Medrano also spoke about acting as a child and studying acting in Argentina; working in television in Buenos Aires; leaving Argentina in 1965 because of government censorship; and his arrival in Washington, DC after working for 6 years in Spain. He explained Washington, DC was a desert in regards to theatrical arts at the time of his arrival; he worked as a busboy in a hotel while studying English in Washington, DC; projects and theaters he worked at prior to the founding of the GALA Hispanic Theatre; the evolution of Latino theater in the United States and Argentina; and stigma by press and award organizations as Hispanic actors and theater. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include loud white noise and static, and minimal background noise; interviewee can be heard for the most part.