conference – SteBos, scholar/artist

Paper: “Criss-Crossing the Atlantic: Argentine Diasporic Stage Directors Returning to Buenos Aires.” PSi Performance Studies international Conference #30 “XXX Cruzo, Cruising, Crossroads,” Fortaleza, Brazil, December 11–15.

In my first trip to Brazil, I’ll present the paper “Criss-Crossing the Atlantic: Argentine Diasporic Stage Directors Returning to Buenos Aires,” on Dec. 12, 2025 at PSi #30, the Performance Studies international conference “XXX Cruzo, Cruising, Crossroads,” held in Fortaleza. I examined the transnational careers of Argentine directors Jorge Lavelli and Alfredo Arias, tracing their emigration to Paris in the 1960s and their rise to prominence within major French cultural institutions, including Arias’s leadership of the National Drama Center of Aubervilliers and Lavelli’s tenure as founding director of the Théâtre de la Colline. I argue that their repeated Atlantic crossings shaped not only their artistic identities but also their later triumphal returns to Buenos Aires stages in the 1980s and 1990s, supported by French institutional funding and prestige. Through close analysis of Arias’s The Game of Love and Chance by Marivaux and Lavelli’s Macbett by Ionesco, I aim to illuminate how French and Argentine theatrical traditions intersected in innovative ways, offering a compelling model for understanding diasporic exchange in global performance networks.

Paper: “Nomadic Comics from Page to Performance: Copi’s Irreverent Characters as Staged by Alfredo Arias and Les Lucioles.” 45th MATC Mid-America Theatre Conference, Atlanta, GA, March 6–8

On Thursday March 6, I’ll present the paper, “Nomadic Comics from Page to Performance: Copi’s Irreverent Characters as Staged by Alfredo Arias and Les Lucioles,” at the 45^th Annual Mid-America Theatre Conference, held in Atlanta, GA. I examine the intersection of comics and theatre in the work of Argentine artist and playwright Copi (Raúl Damonte Botana, 1939–1987), exploring how Copi’s subversive comic strips—originally published in Le Nouvel Observateur and challenging societal norms through human and animal characters—were adapted for the stage. My analysis focuses on two distinct productions drawing from The Seated Woman series: Alfredo Arias’s 1999 staging at Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris and Les Lucioles’ 2006 multimedia adaptations. While Arias employed a more conventional dramaturgical approach, Les Lucioles integrated digital projections, enhancing the interplay between human and non-human performers. With this research I contribute to ongoing discussions on the theatricality of comics and the posthuman dynamics of performance, offering new insights into the relationship between visual media and live theatre. In addition to my presentation, for this edition of MATC I also co-chair the Conference’s Pitch Your Book and Articles in Progress symposia and mentor emerging scholars.

Paper: “Shipwrecked in Paradise: Expanding Consciousness in Michael Fleck’s The Tempest, A New Age Adaptation.”

On November 6-10 I’ll present my paper “Shipwrecked in Paradise: Expanding Consciousness in Michael Fleck’s The Tempest, A New Age Adaptation” for the “Shakespeare and the Early Moderns” Panel at the PAMLA Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association Conference “Translation in Action,” in Palm Springs, CA. This paper analyzes Michael Fleck’s The Tempest: A New Age Adaptation, first produced by the Maui Community Theatre, Hawaii in April 1977. In reshaping Shakespeare’s hypotext, Fleck offered a vehicle for spiritual enlightenment through a synthesis of “the major currents of the ‘consciousness revolution’ of the 1970’s.” Thus, interacting with the Bard’s original characters, we find devas connected with the four elements; an indigenous New Age family whose members are named after Zodiac signs and practice Aikido; and even live plants performing their “greenhouse vibration.” The magician Prospero is now a “corporation drop-out,” who draws his powers from a connection with nature’s energies through Tai-Chi rather than any sort of occult magick. In times of increased awareness of ecological responsibility, the play acquires renewed relevance, pitting the Hawaiian Edenic environment against those who want to destroy it for profit.

Paper: “Poking the Archives: Posthuman Goals and Unexpected Queer Findings in Alfredo Arias’s Comedia repostera.”

On July 23, I’ll speak about my archival research in Argentina and France at the “Unveiling Queer Archives: Narratives, Legacies, Histories” online roundtable, organized by my colleagues Kel Aliano, Benjamin Gillespie, and Bess Rowen for the ATHE Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference “Revisioning the Story” (in person in Atlanta, GA, August 1–4).

Papers: ATHE Boston – Theatres of Revolution

Double paper presentation coming up at the ATHE Conference “Theatre of Revolution” in Boston. The first, “Oscillating Between Mythical Past and Recent Events: Alexis. A Greek Tragedy by Motus as a Mechanism for Revolt” for the Performance Studies Focus Group and the second “How to Become an Argentine of Paris: The Lavelli–Gombrowicz–Zachwatowicz Assemblage” for the Latinx Focus Group. See conference program here.

Paper: Real and Performed Egyptians in James Sanua’s The Unfaithful Husband

Yesterday I participated in the working group session “(Re)presenting Muslim Bodies of Performance” during the American Society for Theatre Research Conference “Extra/Ordinary Bodies: Interrogating the Performance and Aesthetics of ‘Difference’” in Atlanta, GA, I talked about a play by James Sanua, seen as the father of modern day Egyptian theatre.

Conference Organizer: Global Legacies – Pirandello across Centuries and Media

On September 16 we’ll spend an entire day speaking about Pirandello’s legacy at 150 years from his birth. Organizing this international conference has been the culmination of six years working with the Pirandello Society of America as board member, PSA Journal editor, and webmaster. At this event, I’ll present the paper “Jorge Lavelli and Pirandello: A Year with Six Characters between France and Argentina.” Full program here.