The events will include a staged reading of one of Usigli's ground-breaking plays, The Imposter (El Gesticulador), a public film viewing, a library exhibit and an international symposium Into the Mainstream: Women in Modern Mexican Drama.

Miami is the logical site for this commemoration as the University serves as home of the Rodolfo Usigli Archive. The Archive is maintained by the Libraries’ Walter Havighurst Special Collections Library. Miami’s plans have been developed in conjunction with the Centro Nacional de Investigación Teatral "Rodolfo Usigli" (CITRU) in Mexico City. CITRU is slated to sponsor a separate distinguished lecture and library exhibit.

Rodolfo Usigli (1905-1979) was a playwright, essayist, novelist, and poet. Usigli was also a noted historian, educator and theater practitioner who helped lay the foundations for the theater in Mexico in terms of professional and creative standards.

Special Collections has been preparing copies of Usigli materials for shipment to Mexico for display at the Centro Nacional de las Artes (CENART) and on the campus of the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.

The Miami University Friends of the Libraries will host a discussion by acclaimed Mexican stage director José Luis Ibáñez during its Fall Meeting on November 11. Ibáñez has directed plays at the International Siglo de Oro Festival, held annually at the Chamizal Theater in El Paso, Texas.

In 2000 he was a visiting Professor of Theater at Hebrew University in Israel. Ibáñez received Mexico's National University Prize for his creative works in 2001. Ibáñez will also serve as a special guest director for several staged readings of Usigli's groundbreaking play, The Imposter at Miami and elsewhere. The Department of Theater and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese will host Ibáñez during a three-week residency. Ibáñez will also deliver lectures to several different classes throughout Miami during his residency.

The celebration events are supported by:

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the John W. Altman Humanities Scholar-in-Residence Program with the generous support of the Center for American and World Cultures, Department of Theater, Grayson Kirk Lecture/International Studies Program, Jewish Studies Program, Latin American Studies Program, Miami University Libraries, Miami University Art Museum, Office of International Education, Women's Studies Program