El Teatro Campesino
Cultural Treasure in Out & About Country
by Paul Myrvold

El Teatro Campesino, born out of the 1960s struggle to secure rights for exploited farm workers in California, is the seminal Chicano theatre company in American. Luis Valdez and his band of valiant thespians took street theatre into the fields to help Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and others empower the mostly Mexican, mostly migrant workers to unionize and bargain collectively for decent wages and working conditions. Other fine theatres have risen, but it was Luis Valdez and company that blazed the trail and set the standard for those who followed. After the fight to unionize was won, El Teatro Campesino – literally “the farm workers’ theatre” – went on to tour the world with its vibrant, authentic brand of indigenous theatre. The “teatro style” – vigorous, expressive acting that transcends language, passionate emotion and a strong commitment to social justice spurred by Luis Valdez’ powerful pen – won audiences and respect across America and the world. After years on the road, the company made San Juan Bautista its home. With the titanic success of the original production of Zoot Suit in Los Angeles in 1978 (to this day the longest running show in LA history) the company was able to buy an old packing shed in San Juan and turn it into its permanent playhouse.
Besides his masterpiece Zoot Suit, Luis Valdez has written numerous plays that have been widely produced and enthusiastically received by audiences including The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa, Bandido! and I Don't Have to Show You No Stinking Badges! He has written and directed the film version of Zoot Suit as well as La Bamba, Corridos and The Cisco Kid. His adaptations of the traditional Christmas plays La Pastorela and La Virgen del Tepayac draw sellout crowds to the Mission San Juan Bautista each year.
El Teatro Campesino is a Cultural Treasure right here in Out & About Country and yet many people, including ardent theatre-goers remain unaware of its existence or have misconceptions about its nature. Some people stay away because they assume the plays are all done in Spanish. Not true. The shows at the playhouse are in English. There are, to be sure, plenty of Spanish words and phrases liberally sprinkled through the text, but they are made comprehensible by the expressive acting or made obvious by the situation. An example: In Zoot Suit a mother compares her husband and son by saying “From such a stick, such a splinter; de tal palo, tal astillota.” Phrase and translation in the same line. Monoglots fear not! You will understand.
Come and experience the passion and joy of El Teatro Campesino.

	~An actor, director and writer, Paul has performed on and off Broadway, in regional theatres and as a guest artist in colleges and universities from coast to coast. You can reach him at outabout@garlic.com