Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino

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Luis Valdez And El Teatro Campesino
Luis Valdez was a playwright known for establishing the El Teatro Campesino. Valdez used his plays to bring to the fore social issues in America’s society. Valdez was the first Chicano to write and direct a play on Broadway. Also, he received an Obie in 1968 for his work. Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta were civil rights activists and labor leaders who dedicated their lives to fight for improved working and living conditions for farmworkers (Eliason). Valdez recognized the important work Chavez and Huerta were doing through their National Farm Workers Association. Therefore, he approached them intending to create a theatre of, for, and by farmworkers (Eliason). Chavez and Huerta agreed to form the theatre.
El Teatro Campesino was founded in 1965 by Valdez (El Teatro Campesino). When founding the El Teatro Campesino, Valdez aimed at promoting Latino theatrical productions in the United States (U.S.). Originally, the theatre focused on social justice issues as experienced in the farmworker’s movement of the 1960s. During this period, the theatre, mainly operated by Valdez, created and performed short skits known as actos. Between 1969 and 1981, the company primarily focused on plays. However, after 1981, they began experimenting with music and dance (El Teatro Campesino). Teatro still focuses on social injustice issues that are prevalent in America.
Social justice is the equal sharing of services such as housing, healthcare, and education. Theatre, as Valdez shows, can be used to advance social justice causes. Through theatre, people can be educated on the unfair practices surrounding them. By identifying these unfair practices, people can instigate calls for change. Luis Valdez is one of the artists who has used theatre to advance social justice causes. In his initial work, Valdez focused on highlighting the plight of farmworkers in the U.S. For years, Latino and other marginalized communities in the U.S. had been exploited for their cheap labor and forced to live in poor conditions (Eliason). In his “actos,” Valdez exposed these realities to contribute to the farmworker’s movement.
Out of the seven artists featured in the article, I find Ricardo Gamboa’s work the most interesting. His plays feature gay and transgender characters, which is not common in theatre (Cruz). Even in contemporary cinema, filmmakers are just now struggling to write and present queer characters on the big and small screens. However, given that some playwrights are already taking the bold step by writing such characters shows theatre is still great art.
Chicano and Latino are both terms used to refer to people of Mexican descent who are born in the U.S (Carrillo). However, unlike Latino, Chicano was used as a symbol of pride am...