Joanne Pottlizer is a theater artist and writer who has produced many Latin American plays in New York and has won two Obie Awards. In 1966 she founded Theatre of Latin America Inc. (TOLA), a New York-based nonprofit arts organization that pioneered artistic exchange between the United States and Latin America. During her 14 years as TOLA’s director, Pottlitzer traveled frequently to Latin America to develop exchange programs and build a Latin American theatre library of more than 3,000 volumes, which was acquired by the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. As TOLA’s director, Pottlizer invited recognized Brazilian director Augusto Boal to bring his production Arena Conta Zumbi with the Teatro de Arena theater troupe to perform in New York. With funding from the Rockefeller brothers, the play was performed at St Clement’s Theater and as part of the Latin American Fair of Opinion. When Boal was arrested in Brazil, he managed to send a note to Pottlitzer signaling his arrest, after which an international campaign began among artistic and intellectual elites demanding his release.
Read an interview with Joanne Pottlitzer by James Green.