Identity elements
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
INTAR Theatre Records
Date(s)
- n.d., 1966-2004 (Creation)
Extent
142 Boxes
Name of creator
Administrative history
INTAR Theatre is one of the oldest Hispanic theater companies in the United States. International Arts Relation, Inc. (INTAR) was founded in New York in 1966 as Asociación de Arte Latinoamericano (ADAL) by a group of Cuban and Puerto Rican writers and artists. Cuban-born Max Ferrá served as INTAR’s artistic director since its founding until 2004, when Cuban-American playwright Eduardo Machado assumed artistic leadership of the organization.
In its early years, INTAR focused on producing in Spanish the works of significant European and American playwrights. In the 1970s, the organization began producing works in English by Iberoamerican and Latino writers. The theater company has built on this strength and emphasizes new works that reflect the cultural heritage and concerns of the Hispanic community in the United States. Works have included drama, musicals, children’s theater, collaborative visual arts and theater creations, and traveling productions.
INTAR has historically focused on four program areas. The theater program has resulted in over 125 theater productions by more than 175 playwrights and composers. The developmental theater program has hosted various writing labs and workshops designed to support the creation of new theater works by Hispanic artists. Almost every Latino playwright working today has participated in one of INTAR’s workshops. Cuban-born, avant-garde playwright María Irene Fornés directed the Hispanic Playwrights-in-Residence Lab from 1981 to 1991. Graciela Daniele ran a Music Theater Lab from 1985 to 1989, and in 1991, INTAR hosted an Actors Lab.
The New Works Lab was founded in 1994 under the direction of Michael Garces and is designed to support the creative development of emerging directors, writers, actors and other artists from the Latino theater community. Most recently, INTAR launched the Actor’s Collective as part of its developmental theater program.
Inverna Lockpez founded INTAR’s Latin American Gallery in 1979, serving as curator through the 1990s. The Gallery was established as an alternative space to provide exposure for emerging and established Latino and Latin American artists, producing bilingual catalogs and posters for its exhibitions.
INTAR also operated an educational program for public school students, including field days bringing students and teachers to INTAR for matinee performances and guided tours; an internship program; and in-school touring productions.
Today, INTAR focuses on its theater and developmental theater programs with a mission to:
* Nurture the professional development of Latino theater artists.
* Produce bold, innovative, artistically significant plays that reflect diverse perspectives.
* Make accessible the diversity inherent in America's cultural heritage.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
INTAR Theatre Records include the organizational records of New York-based INTAR Theatre, one of the oldest Hispanic theater companies in the United States. The collection contains scripts, musical scores, correspondence, financial records, photographs, audiovisual materials, posters, programs, clippings, and other materials related to INTAR Theatre productions from its founding in 1966 to 2004. The collection also includes the records of INTAR's Latin American Gallery.
System of arrangement
The INTAR Theatre Records are organized into seven series. series 1: scripts; series 2: author files; series 3: New Works Lab; series 4: administrative records; series 5: INTAR Latin American Gallery records; series 6: photographs and audiovisual materials; series 7: ephemera.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Collection is open for research.
Physical access
This collection is housed off-campus and must be requested a minimum of seven calendar days in advance for consultation in the Cuban Heritage Collection Reading Room. Selected materials from boxes 114-119, 123-133, 135, and 137-139 are being digitized in 2022. Please contact chc@miami.edu to request materials from this collection.
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Requests to publish or display materials from this collection require written permission from the rights owner. Please, contact chc@miami.edu for more information.
Preferred citation: INTAR Theatre Records, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida.
Languages of the material
- English
- Spanish
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Generated finding aid
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Gift of International Arts Relation, Inc., 2005.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Selected materials from this collection have been digitized.
https://digitalcollections.library.miami.edu/digital/collection/theater
Related archival materials
Randy Barceló Collection (CHC0454), Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida.
Eduardo Machado Papers (CHC5164), Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida.
Manuel Martín, Jr. Papers (CHC5064), Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida.
Luis Santeiro Papers (CHC5125), Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida.
Caridad Svich Papers (CHC5161), Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida.
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
Other Information:
Sponsor Note: This collection processed with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.
Rights Statement:
The text of this webpage is available for modification and reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GNU Free Documentation License (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts).
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Archivist's note
Processed by Duvy Argandoña and Ximena Valdivia, with the assistance of volunteer Antonio Mestre and student assistants Erin Coldsmith, José Loor, and Alex Wernner, 2007. Finding aid revised and published online by María R. Estorino, August 2008. Legacy PDF container list converted to online container list, March 2014. Finding aid updated by Juan A. Villanueva, February 2019. Updated by Rebeca Gonzalez, May 2021.
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Intar Latin American Gallery (Subject)