Chicano Drama: Performance, Society and Myth

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Chicano Drama Performance, Society and Myth This is the b rst book since Jorge Huerta 9s ground-breaking earlier study, Chicano Theater: Themes and Forms ( 1982 ),to explore the diversity and energy of Chicano theatre.Huerta takes as his starting point 1979 , the year Luis Valdez 9s play, Zoot Suit , was produced on Broadway. Huerta looks at plays by and about Chicanas and Chicanos, as they explore, through performance,the community and its identity caught between the United States and Mexico.Through informative biographies of each playwright and analyses of their plays, Huerta o ers an accessible introduction to this important aspect of American theatre and culture. Overall, Huerta establishes a pattern of theatrical activity that is closely linked with both Western European traditions of realism and an indigenous philosophy seen in con- temporary Chicano culture.

Further, Huerta examines how the playwrights challenge the Roman Catholic Church and its priests, while demonstrating an abiding faith.The b nal chapter explores plays that challenge the tradition of the patriarchy by openly dis- cussing the issues of homosexuality.The book contains photographs from key produc- tions and will be invaluable to students, scholars and general theatregoers. jorge huerta is a leading authority on contemporary Chicano and ... more. less.

Latino theatre, a professional director, and Chancellor 9s Associates Professor of Theatre at the University of California,San Diego.Huerta founded El Teatro de la Esperanza in Santa Barbara, in 1971 , and was also co-founder of Teatro Máscara Mágica, in San Diego, in 1989 . He has published numerous articles and reviews, three anthologies of plays, and a major study, Chicano Theater:Themes and Forms ( 1982 ). © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521771196 - Chicano Drama: Performance, Society and Myth Jorge Huerta Frontmatter More information CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN AMERICAN THEATRE AND DRAMA General editor Don B. Wilmeth, Brown University Advisory board C. W. E. Bigsby, University of East Anglia Errol Hill, Dartmouth College C. Lee Jenner, Independent critic and dramaturge Bruce A. McConachie, University of Pittsburgh Brenda Murphy, University of Connecticut Laurence Senelick, Tufts University The American theatre and its literature are attracting,after long neglect,the cru- cial attention of historians, theoreticians and critics of the arts. Long a b eld for isolated research yet too frequently marginalized in the academy, the American theatre has always been a sensitive gauge of social pressures and public issues. Investigations into its myriad of shapes and manifestations are relevant to stu- dents of drama, theatre, literature, cultural experience and political development. The primary intent of this series is to set up a forum of important and origi- nal scholarship in and criticism of American theatre and drama in a cultural and social context.Inclusive by design,the series accommodates leading work in areas ranging from the study of drama as literature to theatre histories, theoretical explorations,production histories and readings of more popular or para-theatrical forms.While maintaining a speci b c emphasis on theatre in the United States,the series welcomes work grounded broadly in cultural studies and narratives with interdisciplinary reach.Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama thus provides a crossroads where historical, theoretical, literary and biographical approaches meet and combine, promoting imaginative research in theatre and drama from a variety of new perspectives. BOOKS IN THE SERIES 1 1 . Samuel Hay, African American Theatre 1 2 . Marc Robinson, The Other American Drama 1 3 . Amy Green, The Revisionist Stage: American Directors Re-Invent the Classics 1 4 . Jared Brown, The Theatre in America during the Revolution 1 5 . Susan Harris Smith, American Drama:The Bastard Art 1 6 . Mark Fearnow, The American Stage and the Great Depression 1 7 . Rosemarie K. Bank, Theatre Culture in America, 1825 3 1860 1 8 . Dale Cockrell, Demons of Disorder: Early Blackface Minstrels and Their World 1 9 . Stephen J. Bottoms, The Theatre of Sam Shepard 10 . Michael A. Morrison, John Barrymore, Shakespearean Actor 11 . Brenda Murphy, Congressional Theatre: Dramatizing McCarthyism on Stage, Film, and Television 12 . Jorge Huerta, Chicano Drama: Performance, Society and Myth © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521771196 - Chicano Drama: Performance, Society and Myth Jorge Huerta Frontmatter More information Chicano Drama Performance, Society and Myth JORGE HUERTA University of California, San Diego © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521771196 - Chicano Drama: Performance, Society and Myth Jorge Huerta Frontmatter More information CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521771191 © Jorge Huerta 2000 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2000 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Huerta, Jorge A. Chicano drama : performance, society, and myth / Jorge Huerta. p. cm. 3 (Cambridge studies in American theatre and drama : 12) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0 521 77119 6 (hardback) 3 ISBN 0 521 77817 4 (paperback) 1. American drama 3 Mexican American authors 3 History and criticism. 2. Literature and society 3 United States 3 History. 3. Mexican Americans in literature. 4. Myth in literature. I. Title. II. Series. PS153.M4 H84 2001 812.009´86872 3DC21 00-036300 ISBN-13 978-0-521-77119-1 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-77119-6 hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-77817-6 paperback ISBN-10 0-521-77817-4 paperback Transferred to digital printing 2005 © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521771196 - Chicano Drama: Performance, Society and Myth Jorge Huerta Frontmatter More information To the memory of my dear friends, colleagues and collaborators Miguel Delgado Estela Portillo-Trambley José Guadalupe Saucedo Ruben Sierra Que en paz descansen siempre © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521771196 - Chicano Drama: Performance, Society and Myth Jorge Huerta Frontmatter More information Contents List of illustrations page ix Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 1 Mythos or mitos : the roots of a Chicano mythology 15 Unseen spirits of the Southwest 20 Re-claiming Aztec and Maya mythology 26 2 Mystery or miracle: bodiless heads and conversations with the dead 56 Challenging notions of reality: bodiless heads 56 Conversations with the dead 71 3 Redemption: looking for miracles in a man 9s church 100 Irreverent visions of God, the Devil, Heaven and Hell 102 Reinscribing the miracle play 107 Priests and nuns in a restrictive church 118 4 Rebelling against damnation: out of the closet, slowly 140 The discussion of homosexuality in Chicano literature and theatre 140 Early representations of (homo)sexual characters 142 Plays with secondary gay Chicano characters 146 Plays with gay/lesbian central characters 159 Afterword 183 Bibliography 193 Index 203 vii © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521771196 - Chicano Drama: Performance, Society and Myth Jorge Huerta Frontmatter More information Illustrations 1 Heroes and Saints , by Cherríe Moraga. Brava! For Women in the Arts, San Francisco, California. Directed by Albert Takazauckas. L. to R. Hector Correa and Jaime Lujan. Photo: © David. M. Allen Photography, 1992 , San Francisco, California page 65 2 Heroes and Saints , by Cherríe Moraga. Brava! For Women in the Arts, San Francisco, California, 1992 . Directed by Albert Takazauckas. L. to R. Juanita Estrada, Jennifer Proctor, Viola Lucero. Photo: David M. Allen Photography, San Francisco, California 66 3 My Visits With MGM ( My Grandmother Marta ), by Edit Villareal. Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, 1993 . Directed by Norma Saldívar. L. to R. Maricela Ochoa, Renee Victor, Feiga M. Martinez. Photo: Avery Photography, Milwaukee 75 4 My Visits With MGM ( My Grandmother Marta ), by Edit Villareal. Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, 1993 . Directed by Norma Saldívar. L. to R. Feiga M. Martinez,Thaddeus Valdez, Maricela Ochoa and Renee Victor. Photo: Avery Photography, Milwaukee 76 5 Santos & Santos , by Octavio Solis. Campo Santo in Association with Thick Description, San Francisco, California, 1996 . Directed by Tony Kelley. L. to R. Deena Martinez, Michael Torres, Luis Saguar, Maria Candelaria and Sean San José Blackman. Photo: © 1996 Stephen Mitchell 91 6 Santos & Santos , by Octavio Solis. Dallas Theatre Center, Dallas,Texas, 1995 . Directed by Richard Hamburger. L. to R. Jennifer Gri 4 th, Richard Chaves, Rene Moreno, Vilma Silva, Al Espinosa, Dolores Godinez, Bob Burrus,Toni Allen, Jimmie Ray Weeks. Photo: Carl Davis 92 ix © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521771196 - Chicano Drama: Performance, Society and Myth Jorge Huerta Frontmatter More information 7 Real Women Have Curves , by Jose b na López. Chingona Productions and Rasquachi Rep, Los Angeles, California, 1998 . Directed by Corky Dominguez. L. to R. Julia Vera, Rosalinda Morales,Teresa-Michelle Ruiz,Tina Taylor, Miriam Peniche. Photo: Jose b na López 126 8 La Guadalupe Que Camina , by Beverly Sanchez-Padilla. Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, San Antonio,Texas, 1990 . Directed by Ruby Nelda Perez. L. to R. Beverly Sanchez-Padilla, Ruby Nelda Perez, Sonia Salazar, Nancy López. Photo: San Antonio Express News 133 9 Blade to the Heat , by Oliver Mayer. New York Shakespeare Festival, 1994 . Directed by George C. Wolfe. L. to R. Maricela Ochoa, Paul Calderon. Photo: Michal Daniel 169 10 Deporting the Divas , by Guillermo Reyes. Miracle Theatre Company, Portland, Oregon, 1998 . Directed by Michael Menger. L. to R. Andrés Alcalá, Jason Maniccia, Dan Palma, Rob Harrison, Jack Lozano. Photo: Autumn Simon Photography, Oxford, Massachusetts 174 x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521771196 - Chicano Drama: Performance, Society and Myth Jorge Huerta Frontmatter More information Acknowledgements I want to thank all of the theatre artists who have been my collaborators and my inspiration. Also, thanks to my student research assistants: Kat Avila, Ken Cerniglia, Ricardo Chavira, Laura Esparza, Gregg Huerta, Ron Huerta, David Lugo-Beauchamp, Juan Pazos, Tatiana Piccone, Analola Santana,Liberty Smith and Michael Stegen.A very special thanks to Maria Figueroa,Michal Kobialka,Adam Versenyi and John Clum for their invalu- able feedback. Without the support, guidance and patience of Victoria Cooper and Don Wilmeth, I could not have completed this book.Thanks also to the sta of the Department of Theatre and Dance at ucsd : Sondra Bu ett, Robin Doane, Paulette Gregg, Linn Fridy, Hedayat Jafari and Barbara Vilbrandt. To the University of California, uc -Mexus, Program and the sta at ucsd-tv : Vice Chancellor Mary L. Walshok, Lynn Burnstan, John Menier, Matt Alioto, Marci Bretts, Suzanne Cedevic, David Cain and Patricia Taylor, thanks for making our video series, cNecessary Theatre, da reality.I could not have completed this book without the b nancial support of my Chancellor 9s Associates Endowed Chair III. Finally,a great big gracias to my wife,Ginger,whose love,wisdom,encour- agement and support make it all possible. xi © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521771196 - Chicano Drama: Performance, Society and Myth Jorge Huerta Frontmatter More information

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