"The School of Memory" Premieres in Chicago

The Fox Center extends its congratulations to 2025-26 Life/Story Fellow Héctor Alvarez on the Chicago premiere of his play The School of Memory!  

Developed during his Fox Center fellowship, The School of Memory explores questions of historical memory, forgetting, and regret by reconstructing the life of Héctor's paternal great-grandfather who was arrested and executed by fascist troops at the end of the Spanish Civil War.   

 Earlier this spring, Héctor reflected on the project's themes and its connection to the Fox’s 2025-26 theme “Life/Story” in our Fellow Focus series: "I've always been interested in the way that theater can function as a memory machine, by which I mean theater can enable a process where we engage with the past, entering [into a] dialogue with the departed." 

"I’m so indebted and grateful to [the Fox Center] for allowing me the time to work on this project. Your feedback directly shaped the play, and I’m so honored I got to develop it with the community of fellows."

In a review in the Chicago Reader, the production was described as "a disturbing and entrancing experience in roughly equal measure" and praised for the "unique, ever-morphing" audio/visual work of designer Attilio Rigotti.  

On the Fox fellowship's impact on his work, Héctor says: "I’m so indebted and grateful to [the Fox Center] for allowing me the time to work on this project. The feedback directly shaped the play, and I’m so honored I got to develop it with the community of fellows. It was a truly a privilege!"

The School of Memory showed at Chicago's Theater Y for eight performances across two weekends in July and closed on Sunday, July 19. Learn more.