Gabriela Furtado Coutinho

3 weeks ago | americantheatre.org | Gabriela Furtado Coutinho |Jerald Raymond Pierce

This should be a celebratory time for Chicago theatre. Three of the city’s major institutions are all celebrating significant milestones in their long, illustrious histories. And yet, rather than reveling in celebration, I find myself singing, “one of these things is not like the others.” I feel like I’m looking at the three-headed dragon meme of Chicago theatre: two fierce, steely-eyed legends and one that’s—well, it’s just happy to be there.

2 months ago | americantheatre.org | Gabriela Furtado Coutinho |Jerald Raymond Pierce

Gabriela reflects on how theatre is getting Chicago through polar apocalypse. There—focus on what’s in front of you. Yes, it’s been quite a week, quite a month, quite a way to start the year. A number of events have interrupted daily life, and new news adds layer upon layer to the icy air. Chicago streets have emptied. The overwhelm overwhelms. Focusing on just one thing might seem impossible, but that’s exactly how many audiences and artists are aiming to push through.

Nov 26, 2024 | americantheatre.org | Gabriela Furtado Coutinho

I don’t want to write today. On November 6 my body lingered numb under a blanket. I needed to rise for Encuentro with ánimo, yet I didn’t want to dream that day. Outside, the California mountains whispered memories of Dolores Huerta and her calls of resistance: Sí, se puede. The rolling roads seemed to echo a zapateado with nature. Arriving at the Los Angeles Theatre Center’s Greek Revival columns, the Latino Theater Company staff opened wide its doors—and the world returned to full focus and color.

Oct 29, 2024 | americantheatre.org | Gabriela Furtado Coutinho |Jerald Raymond Pierce

Gabriela Furtado Coutinho recounts the evocative and spirit-like quality to recent theatrical events. English cannot hold my heart; there’s no word in the language for my visceral reactions to theatre this past month. In Brazilian Portuguese, we have words for belly laughs-turned-cries caught in the chest and sobs that heave with the rhythm of laughter: “chorar de rir,” “chorar de soluçar.” So powerful were the evocative tales of lineage this month.

Oct 28, 2024 | americantheatre.org | Gabriela Furtado Coutinho

Selina Fillinger didn’t set out to write a play about electoral politics. But events in the current presidential election have transformed how audiences receive her play POTUS, Or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, a farce about women having to step in for an incapacitated president. Sound familiar?