meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Bringing Latinx Voices to Shakespeare, with Cynthia Santos DeCure and Micha Espinosa

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.7837 Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2021

⏱️ 33 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Cynthia Santos DeCure and Micha Espinosa both grew up speaking English and Spanish, and they share memories of being made to feel like their voices, dialects, and identities weren’t “good enough” for Shakespeare. Now, both DeCure and Espinosa are vocal coaches and actors. They share an example of how an actor might embody their text, praise on the late great Raul Julia, and explain how important it is for actors to bring their 'voces culturales' to Shakespeare’s words. Cynthia Santos DeCure is an Assistant Professor of Acting at the Yale School of Drama. She was most recently the dialect coach for El Huracán at Yale Rep, and she was an on-set dialect coach for Orange is the New Black on Netflix. Micha Espinosa is a Professor in the School of Music, Dance, and Theatre at Arizona State University. She was the Voice and Text Director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s world premiere production of La Comedia of Errors, a bilingual adaptation of Shakespeare’s original play from the Play on! translation by Christina Anderson. DeCure and Espinosa wrote about vocal coaching in chapters in Shakespeare and Latinidad, a collection of essays in the field of Latinx theater, edited by Carla Della Gatta and Trevor Boffone and published by Edinburgh University Press in June 2021. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast. Published November 9, 2021. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “Any Accent Breaking From Thy Tongue,” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer. Leonor Fernandez edits a transcript of every episode, available at folger.edu. We had technical help from Andrew Feliciano and Paul Luke at Voice Trax West in Studio City, California, Josh Leal at Sun Studios of Arizona in Tempe, and Ryan McEvoy at the Yale University Broadcast Studio.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

When you speak the words of Shakespeare, and someone tells you that what you did isn't good enough,

0:06.7

there are a lot of ways you can feel.

0:09.1

There are also, thankfully, a lot of ways to cope.

0:18.1

From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.

0:22.7

I'm Michael Whitmore, the Folgers director.

0:25.4

The scenario I just mentioned, being told your Shakespeare isn't good enough,

0:30.0

that's something that happens surprisingly often to performers who are first-generation American,

0:35.4

or who are raised as bilingual speakers.

0:38.3

Cynthia Santos-Tecure and Micah Espinoza have firsthand experience with this from both sides of the footlights.

0:46.3

They both grew up speaking English and Spanish.

0:49.3

They both got careers in the theater.

0:51.3

And today, they both work as voice coaches, helping people who have been

0:55.8

told that their Shakespeare isn't good enough, both to bolster their confidence and to keep them

1:01.1

moving forward in their careers. Cynthia is an assistant professor of acting at the Yale School of

1:07.5

Drama. She was most recently the dialect coach for El Uracon at Yale Rep,

1:13.0

and she was the on-set dialect coach for Orange is the New Black on Netflix. Micah is a professor

1:19.7

in the school of film, dance, and theater at Arizona State University. Most recently, she was

1:25.6

the voice and text director for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's world

1:29.4

premiere production La Comedia of Errors, a bilingual adaptation of Shakespeare's original play

1:35.9

from the Play-on translation by Christina Anderson.

1:40.3

Cynthia and Micah have also written chapters in the new book, Shakespeare and Latinidad, that was edited by Carla Delagata and Trevor Buffone, where they talk about their work unraveling the shame and discomfort that can often come up when actors are told that their Shakespeare isn't good enough.

1:58.5

They joined us from studios in Arizona and Connecticut to talk about their

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Folger Shakespeare Library, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Folger Shakespeare Library and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.