Cuban-born Henry Godinez is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University and has served as a sight evaluator and panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, The Illinois Arts Council, and the Evanston Arts Council. He is the recipient of the 1999 TCG Alan Schneider Directing Award, the Distinguished Service Award from the Lawyers for the Creative Arts, and was recognized as the 2008 Latino Professional of the Year by the Chicago Latino Network. He is the resident artistic associate at the Goodman and curator of the Goodman’s Latino Theatre Festival. He is also the co-founder of Teatro Vista and served as artistic director for its first five years.

This post-show discussion immediately followed the performance of The Island, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s current mainstage show. Athol Fugard’s daring drama is set in an unnamed prison based on the one where Nelson Mandela was held. John and Winston are cellmates who spend their days doing back-breaking labor, and their nights rehearsing Sophocles’ Antigone to present to their fellow inmates. When John learns his sentence is being reduced, the men’s friendship is tested. Fugard plays the parallels between Antigone’s fight against political and patriarchal boundaries off of the imprisoned men’s fight for their dignity. The Island is a testament to the resiliency of the human heart.

Recorded Saturday, February 20, 2010 at The Greenhouse Theater.