The father of Chicano theater, Luis Valdez, recently presented his first play in 13 years to sold out audiences for four weeks at his community theater in San Juan Bautista, El Teatro Campesino.
According to an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times by Miriam Pawel, people came from as far as Los Angeles, 300 miles away to see the play. The show Valley of the Heart tells the story based on Valdez’ own family experience. His parents took over the farm a Japanese American family was forced to abandon when herded into the incarceration camps of World War II.
Despite the show’s success, no other theater has expressed interest in producing the play. That despite Valdez’ resume that includes Zoot Suit which broke box office records at the Mark Taper Forum in 1978 and La Bamba, the Ritchie Valens Golden Globe nominated biopic that Valdez wrote and directed.
Wrote Pawel:
I wish you could see the play, so you could smile at the broccoli-picking dance, cry as the Yamaguchis are taken to Heart Mountain internment camp, laugh at the cross-cultural jokes. But “Valley of the Heart” premiered in the tiny mission town of San Juan Bautista, 300 miles north of L.A., ran for four weeks to sold-out crowds, and then closed.
El Teatro Campesino, a theater founded by Valdez, is now celebrating its 50th anniversary. You can read about both in the Los Angeles Times,
