THEATER

BUREAU OF ARTS AND CULTURE MAGAZINE: LOS ANGELES 

THEATER REVIEWS ESSAYS INTERVIEWS 

BUREAU THEATRE L. A. TABLE OF CONTENTS  

SCROLL FOR REVIEWS of ARCHIVES and LINKS TO DOZENS OF L. A. THEATRES

AUGUST WILSON . SAM SHEPARD . ARTHUR MILLER . LUIS VALDEZ 

Plus from BUREAU of ARTS and CULTURE Magazine THEATRE Archives :

PITY THE PROUD ONES Written by Kurt Dana MAXEY
Directed by Ben GUILLORY at Robey Theater Company
LATC Downtown Los Angeles

JUAN and JOHN By ROGER GUENVEUR SMITH
LATC Downtown Los Angeles

JANE FONDA in the COURT of PUBLIC OPINION
Written & Directed by Terry Jastrow / Co - Director Michelle Danner
Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica CA USA

Garbo' s Cuban Lover A Play at
Macha Theater in West Hollywood

Roger Guenveur Smith & Marc Anthony Thompson
TWENTY 20 : A Multi Media Performance Presentation

VISIT THE COVER PAGE FOR A FREE DOWNLOAD CURRENT EDITIONS:

http://bureauofartsandculturelosangeles.blogspot.com/  

AUGST WILSON : PLAYWRIGHT

"August Wilson is one of America's … wait a minute, scratch that… One of The World's most Important and Entertaining playwrights and a big influence on my Education in the Theater. His Dialogue & Characters sparkle and hum with Truths. I don't read him only during African American month, I read August Wilson every time I need to be reminded of my roots in the theater. There is no one like Wilson. He's original, he's funny and he hits you deep inside, where it hurts, makes you yearn to live, to overcome, to remember where you came from. It would be easy to compare him with Eugene O'Neil and visa versa. Yes, I have a degree in Theater, but I actually learned more while reading August Wilson. Not long ago, I heard somewhere that he had passed away, beg to differ, the great ones, artists, writers, performers, musicians, they don't die, they live forever in the work: Mr Wilson is very Much Alive and Well."     

                                          

                                                  - Joshua Triliegi  /  Bureau of Arts and Culture 

NEW PLAY BASED ON HIS POETRY http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/theater-dance/2016/03/22/A-new-musical-based-on-August-Wilson-s-poetry-will-debut-in-Oregon/stories/201603220161

PBS LINK: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/august-wilson-the-ground-on-which-i-stand-august-wilsons-youth/3707/

  ARTHUR MILLER: Going Very Strong at 100

     THE AMERICAN ICON: ARTHUR MILLER

        By  Joshua  A.  TRILIEGI   for  BUREAU of Arts and Culture  / LITERARY Edition SPRING 2015

Arthur Miller is turning 100 years of age this year and as it turns out: his works are more important than ever. Miller went toe to toe with mainstream ideology, with the dilemma's of war, with group thinking and paranoia, with religion, with celebrity machinery and even with the government of the United States of America during one of the worst chapters in our history: The McCarthy years. For those of you too young to remember or too old to want to remember. Senator Joe McCarthy led a witch hunt that was focused on left leaning individuals of all sorts, but specifically, those in the field of entertainment. Directors, writers, actors and producers were demanded to testify against their friends and associates publicly, privately, overtly or with discretion. Arthur Miller did no such thing, he refused to name names. He was found in contempt of court and later exonerated of all charges. Miller is a soul searching playwright who introduces ideas in the great American sagas such as, "Death of a Salesman," "All My Sons," "The Crucible," and spreads them out like a deck of cards for all to see and eventually to play with. Theater, unlike film, has a forever and ongoing growing relationship with interpretation, with the populist, with the times and with the future. Millers plays are produced all over the world, "Death of a Japanese Salesman," was extremely popular overseas. The Arthur Miller literary works are and have been interpreted and produced in dozens of languages and remain extremely relevant. Ever since the attacks of 9/11, here in America, a very similar situation surfaced, creatively and culturally speaking, we have not quite recovered. The freedom to speak out against abuses of power, against political policy or those in power is almost entirely absent. 

Major news organizations have fallen to the wayside, when it comes to investigative journalism and most others march in step with the current politically correct aspects of today's society. Entertainers are afraid to speak out for fear of losing a role or a job or alienating either their audience or the advertisers. Miller's plays delve into these subject matters deeply, dramatically and with a great deal of consequence to relationships. "Salesman," deals with family deceit, the changing of American values and memory. "All my Sons," is a scorching and scathing look at the war machine, that has direct ties to rather recent political family histories here in America. "The Crucible," is a direct metaphor for the McCarthy era as well as an intensively researched project that brings to life the disturbing, but entirely factual witch hunts that happened in America and abroad : 100s of women were murdered for hysteria and paranoia. Millers plays are not overtly political, they are much more about relationship, family and community at every level. Ultimately, they are about mankind. The popularity of his catalogue has only grown through the years and deservedly so. On a personal level, Mr Miller's life had some extreme ups and downs and through it all he remained calm, elusive, focused and intelligent. Miller has always been very forthright about his works, his views and his ideas of life. To my mind, he is a true patriot, unafraid to ask the difficult questions that arise when involved in an experiment as beautiful as America. He served as the president of the PEN Organization in the mid 1960s. Miller also has the special quality that says to anyone at anytime: "Fuck You," as you can see he expresses in the image related to this article during a press conference.  In the back pages of this edition you will find an extensive list with links to over fifty up and coming Miller plays around the world. And so, today we salute the man, the mind, the icon, the artist, the writer and the great and beautiful defiance of this Original American of Letters: Mr. Arthur Miller.

American dramatist, writer, and essayist Arthur Miller (1915-2005) is considered a pioneer of expressionistic realism in post-World War II American theater. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Miller's stage plays began receiving a number of awards, including the Drama Critics' Circle Awards, 1947, for All My Sons, and 1949, for Death of a Salesman; Tony Awards, 1947, for All My Sons, 1949, for Death of a Salesman, and 1953, for The Crucible; Donaldson Awards, 1947, for All My Sons, 1949, for Death of a Salesman, and 1953, for The Crucible; Pulitzer Prize for drama, 1949, for Death of a Salesman. Frequently cited as one of the central works of twentieth-century American drama, Death of a Salesman remains Miller's best known work.

Miller's play concerning the Salem witch trials, The Crucible (1953), has been interpreted by some critics as an allegory for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) Trials, which investigated the motion picture industry searching for communist sympathizers in the late 1940s through the 1950s. Miller himself, accused of communist sympathies, was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee, but refused to provide the committee with the names of other supposed communists. As a result Miller was found in contempt of Congress, but the conviction was overturned in 1958. During this same period Miller's life was affected by his marriage to the actress Marilyn Monroe, whom he wed in 1956. The public attention that surrounded the couple combined with Monroe's troubled fame proved difficult for Miller. However, his script for The Misfits (1961), based on a short story he first published in Esquire magazine in 1957, was written with Monroe in mind and reveals the admirable qualities he saw in her. The couple divorced in 1961. In After the Fall (1967), Miller further revealed the complexities of his relationship with Monroe, but within a broader thematic context that addresses man's alienation. One of Miller's most successful Broadway plays, The Price (1968), recalls the themes of his earlier works, such as All My Sons and Death of a Salesman. His other plays include Incident at Vichy (1964), The Archbishop's Ceiling (1977), The American Clock (1980), The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991), and Broken Glass (1994).As a socially conscientious writer, Miller has promoted human rights and artistic freedom; while serving as the president of International P.E.N. (1965-1969), Miller worked to open the organization to Soviet Bloc countries and to provide support for imprisoned and persecuted writers. He is credited with vitalizing the organization during his time as president.Miller has received many honors for his writing, including an Obie Award, two New York Drama Critics' Awards, two Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards, the Pulitzer Prize (1949), the American Academy of Arts and Letters gold medal (1959), a John F. Kennedy Award for Lifetime Achievement (1984), the Jerusalem Prize (2003), and many other honors.

Sources: The Arthur Miller Society Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2004, reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group, 2004.Tap This link to hear Orson Welles Reading an Early Radio Play By  Author Mr. ARTHUR MILLER

https://ia700408.us.archive.org/6/items/OrsonWellesOnCavalcadeOfAmerica/420928ThunderFromTheMountains.mp3

http://HayFestival.org 

TAP   [ WEBSITE ]  LINKS FOR EACH PRODUCTION TO VISIT EACH THEATER

• All My Sons Dec. by Wanderlust Theatre Co. at Cité des Arts, 109 Vine Street, Lafayette, LA. Call (337) 291-1122 or check the website.
• The Crucible 13 October – 8 November 2015 by Theatre Calgary, 220 - 9th Ave. S.E., Calgary, AB, Vancouver, Canada. Call 403-294-7440 or check the website.
• The Crucible 16-18 Oct. by Creative Arts Theater, 15615 8th St Victorville, CA. Call 760-963-3236 or check the website.
• Broken Glass 6-31 Oct. 2015 by Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport, CT. Directed by Mark Lamos. Call (203) 227-4177 or check the website.
• A Memory of Two Mondays Sept/Oct. by Defibrillator Theatre, London, UK. Directed by Robert Hastie. Plans are to stage the play in a warehouse setting. Check the website for updates.
• The Crucible 18 Sept.-4 Oct. by Pec Playhouse Theatre, 314 Main St, Pecatonica, IL. Call (815) 239-1210 or check the website.
• Broken Glass 5-27 Sept. by New Repertory Theatre, Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown (Boston), MA. Directed by Jim Petosa, with Jeremiah Kissel. Call 617-923-8487 or check the website.
• The Price in Aug. by TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington, Chicago, IL. Directed by Louis Contey, with Mike Nussbaum. Call 773 281 8463 or check the website.
• Death of a Salesman 9-26 July by Ironweed Productions, Santa Fe, NM. Call 505.927.5406 or check the website. 
• Death of a Salesman July by Chats Productions, at the Jetty Memorial Theatre, Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia. Directed by Rex Madigan. E-mail for info, or check the website.
• The Hook 5 June-25 July by Royal and Derngate theater in Northampton in 5-27 June, followed by a run at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool in 1-25 July. Directed by James Dacre.The play is adapted by Ron Hutchinson from Miller's screenplay. Check their websites for more details:Northampton and Liverpool.
• Death of a Salesman 29 May-14 June by Barn Theater, on Plano Street at Olive Avenue, Porterville, CA. Call (559) 310-7046 or check the website.
• The Crucible 22-30 May by Acting Unlimited at Theatre 810, 810 Jefferson Street, Lafayette, LA. Call (337) 484-0172 or check their Facebook website.
• The Price 13 May-21 June by Olney Theatre Center, at the lab space, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD. Directed by Michael Bloom. Call 301-924-3400 or check the website. There will be a pre-show discussion at 5pm on May 16.
• A View from the Bridge 8-17 May by at Cité des Arts, 109 Vine Street, Lafayette, LA. Call (337) 291-1122 or check the website.
• Death of a Salesman 1-16 May by Dreamwell Theatre Company, 10 S. Gilbert St., Iowa City, IA in two locations. 1-2 May at First Street Community Center, Mt. Vernon and 8-16 May at Iowa Children’s Museum, Coralridge Mall. Directed by David Pierce. Call 319-423-9820, or check thewebsite.
• The Crucible 29 April-3 May at Helene Zelazo Center for the Performing Arts, University Of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. Milwaukee, WI. (414) 229-4308 the website.
• The Crucible 11 April-24 May by Guthrie Theater, Wurtele Thrust Stage, 818 South 2nd Street, Minneapolis, MN. Directed by Joe Dowling. Call 612.377.2224, or check the website for more information.
• Death of a Salesman 1 May-7 June by Loft Ensemble, 929 East Second Street, #105, Los Angeles, CA. Call 213.680.0392 or check the website.
• All My Sons 17 April-10 May by WaterTower Theatre, 15650 Addison Road, Addison, Texas. Directed by David Denson with Terry Martin, Diana Sheehan, Christopher Cassarino, and Tabitha Ray. Call 972.450.6230, or check the website.
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• Death of a Salesman 10-18 April by Neuse Little Theatre, 104 South Front Street, Smithfield, NC. Directed by:  Randy Jordan. Call (919) 934-1873 or check the website.
• The Crucible 10-19 April by Merced Playhouse, 452 W. Main Street, Merced, CA. Call 209 725 8587 or check the website.
• Death of a Salesman 16-26 April by Jewish Theatre Grand Rapids, 2727 Michigan NE, Grand Rapids, MI. Call 616-234-3595, or check the website.
• Death of a Salesman 28 March- 2 May by The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Directed by Gregory Doran with Antony Sher, Harriet Walter, and Alex Hassell. Call 0844 800 1110 or check the website.
• All My Sons (in Cantonese, translation by Dominic Cheung) 27-29 March, presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and produced by the Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies at the Auditorium, Ko Shan Theatre New Wing, Ko Shan Road, Hung Hum, Hong Kong. Directed by Luther Fung, with Chung King-fai, Patra Au, Guthrie Yip, Lai Yuk-ching, Johnson Yu, Mary Lee, Barry Chan, Ruby Chu, Andy Tang and Ngai Chi-hang. Call 2111 5999 or visit www.urbtix.hk.
• All My Sons 27 March-19April 19 by Alley Theatre, 615 Texas Ave., at University of Houston, Houston, TX. Directed by Theresa Rebeck. Call 713.220.5700 or check the website.
• The Archbishop’s Ceiling24 March–19 April by Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, in their Black Box theater,  6901 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada, Colorado.  Directed by Brett Aune, with Michael Morgan, William Hahn, Rodney Lizcano, and Heather Lacy. Set design by Brian Mallgrave. Call 720-898-7200 or check the website. 
• Death of a Salesman 12-28 March by Nashville Repertory Theatre at at Andrew Johnson Theater at Tennessee Performing Arts Center, 505 Deaderick St., Nashville, TN. Directed by René D. Copeland, with Chip Arnold, Rona Carter, Eric Pasto-Crosby and, Matt Garner. Set design by Gary Hoff. Call 615 782-6560 or check the website.
• Death of a Salesman 13-22 March at San Joaquin Delta College, Alred H. Muller Studio Theatre, 5151 Pacific Ave, Stockton, CA. Directed by Harvey Jordan, who also plays Willy, alongside Jane Dominik as Linda. Call (209) 954-5110 or check the website.
• Death of a Salesman 13-28 March by Dover Little Theatre, 69 Elliott Street, Dover, NJ. Directed by Claire Bochenek, with Bob Scarpone, Kate Daly, Michael Reddin, and Michael Jay. Call 973-328-9202 or check the website.
• All My Sons 13-28 March by New Century Players, 11022 SE 37th, Milwaukie, OR. Directed by Colin Murray. Call (503) 367-2620 or check the website.
• Death of a Salesman Spring (Dates TBA) by Dreamwell Theatre Company, 10 S. Gilbert St., Iowa City, IA. Call 319-423-9820, or check the website.
• Playing For Time 12 March-4 April by The Crucible Theatre, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, UK. Directed by Richard Beecham, with Kate Adams, Pascale Burgess, Imogen Daines, Christopher Staines, Amanda Hadingue, Melanie Heslop, Kate Lynn-Evans, Danny Scheinmann, and Siân Phillips. To mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the centenary of the playwright’s birth. Call 0114 249 6000 or check the website.
• All My Sons 6-29 March by Cherry Creek Theatre, at the Shaver-Ramsey Carpet Gallery, 2414 East Third Avenue, Denver, CO. Call (303) 800-6578 or check the website.
• All My Sons 6-22 March by Germantown Community Theater, 3037 S Forest Hill-Irene Rd, Germantown, TN. Directed by John Maness. Call (901) 754-2680 or check the website.
• All My Sons 6-22 March Curtain Call Inc., 1349 Newfield Avenue, Stamford, CT. Directed by John Atkin with Joseph Caputo, Greg Chrzczon, Robert Rosado, Alexandria Clapp, John Ponzini, Karen Pope, Katie Bookser, Robie Livingstone, James Avery and Christopher Beaurline. . Call (203) 461-6358 ext. 13. or check the website.
• All My Sons 6-14 March by JCC Uncommoners, in Robert Lee Scharmann Theatre at Jamestown Community College, 525 Falconer Street, Jamestown, NY. Call 716.338.1153 or check the website. 
• The Crucible 5-8 March in Kimmel Theatre at Midland University on the corner of 8th and Irving in Fremont, NE. Call 402.941.6399 or check the website.
• All My Sons 5-7 March by Jewish Theatre Ensemble, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Check website for tickets and information.
• View from the Bridge 4-14 March by The Touring Consortium Theatre Company with York Theatre Royal; opens in Nottingham on 4 March 2015, and then visits Cheltenham, Darlington, Wolverhampton, Bradford, Coventry and Edinburgh. 10-14 March  at Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre, Regent Street, Cheltenham, UK. Directed by Stephen Unwin, with Jonathan Guy Lewis, Michael Brandon, Teresa Banham, Daisy Boulton, Philip Cairns, and James Rastall. Stage design by Liz Ascroft. For Cheltenham, call 01242 572573 or check the website.  
• All My Sons 2 March-26 April by Front Row Theatre Company, Harrison College House, University of Pennsylvania, PA. Directed by Alex Polyak. Message on Facebook or check thewebsite.
• An Enemy of the People 25 Feb.-15 March by PlayMakers Repertory Company, Center for Dramatic Art, Chapel Hill, NC. Directed by Tom Quaintance, with Michael Bryan French, Tony Newfield, David Adamson, Benjamin Curns, Julia Gibson, Allison Altman, and Jeffrey Blair Cornell. Set design by McKay Coble. Call 919.962.7529 or check the website.
• The Crucible 1 March-4 April by Shawnee Playhouse, 552 River Rd, Shawnee on Deleware, PA. Call (570) 421-5093 or check the website.
• A View from the Bridge 11 Feb.-11 April (transfer of the Young Vic’s much praised spring 2014 production), Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London, UK. Directed by Ivo van Hove, with Mark Strong, Nicola Walker, Michael Gould, Emun Elliott, Phoebe Fox, and Luke Norris. Design and Light by Jan Versweyveld. Call 020 7922 2922 or 0844 482 5120, or check the website(which has an interesting 55 sec. trailer that will give you a sense of the production’s design).
• All My Sons 12 Feb.-25 April by Talawa Theatre Company, around the UK, is reviving its all-black 2013 production (co-produced with Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre) for a national tour, with beginning performances at Ipswich's New Wolsey Theatre for 12-21st Feb. Call 01473 295 900. It will subsequently tour to Cambridge Arts Theatre (24-28 Feb. Call 01223 503 333), Salisbury Playhouse (3-7 March. Call 01722 320 333), Watford Palace Theatre (10-14 March. Call 01923 225 671), Oxford Playhouse (17-21 March. Call 01865 305 305), Birmingham Rep (24-28 March. Call 0121 236 4455), Richmond Theatre in South West London (31 March-5 April. Call 0844 871 7615), Colchester Mercury Theatre (14-18 April. Call 01206 573 948), and Malvern Theatres (Festival Theatre) (21-25 April. Call 01684 892 277). Directed by Michael Buffong, with Ray Shell, Doña Croll, Kemi Bo-Jacobs, Leemore Marrett Jr., and Ashley Gerlach. Stage design by Ellen Cairns. For further details and to book tickets, visit their website.
• The Price 11 Feb.-22 March by Center Theatre Group at Mark Taper Forum, Music Center, 135 North Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA. Directed by Garry Hynes, with Kate Burton, John Bedford Lloyd, Sam Robards, and Alan Mandell. Call 213 628 2772 or check the website.
• The Crucible 25 Feb.-1 Mar. by Riverland Community College (Austin), Frank Bridges Theatre, 1900 8th Avenue NW, Austin, MN . Directed by Lindsey Duoos Williams, with Jake Berndt, Jodie Bratager, Sarah Collett, Ben Deines, Ellie Dyke, Alexa Ferguson, Randy Forster, Karina Hernandez, Tyler Holz, Zack Huggan, Krista Johnson, Kylie Larson, Emily McAlister, Lindsey McAlister, Jacob Mueller, Claire Olson, Kristy Marie Possin, Amoe Sato, Robert Stangler, Jonathan Stowell, Bry Thorson, Vic Wylde, Danny Ziebell and James Zschunke. Set design by Mark Spitzer. Call 507-433-0595 or check the website.
• The Crucible 26 Feb-1 Mar by Lenoir-Rhyne Playmakers, at Lenoir-Rhyne University, in P.E. Monroe Auditorium, 625 7th Ave NE, Hickory, NC. Directed by Josh Yoder. Call 828-328-PLAY or check the website.
• All My Sons 26 Feb.-8 March, by Shreveport Little Theatre, 811 Margaret Pl, Shreveport, LA. Directed by Richard Folmer, with Shawn Dion, Ginger D. Folmer, Miles Jay Oliver, Cara Johnston, Bo Harris, Sloan Folmer, Debbie Posey, David McCart, Holly McCart and Mathew Born. Set design by Chris Gonzales. Call (318) 424-4439 or check the website.
• All My Sons 19 Feb.-1 March by University of Rhode Island Theatre Department, Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI. Call 401.874.5843 or check the website.
• All My Sons 20-28 Feb. by Stage Door Productions, Kitt Creative Studio, 810 Caroline St. Fredericksburg, VA. Directed by Olivia Finnegan, with Dave Mills, Kimberly Kemp, and Matt Armentrout. Call (540) 903-3808 or check the website.
• Death of a Salesman 25-28 Feb. by Sheffield University Theatre Company. Call 0114 222 8676 or check the website.
• The Crucible 13-28 Feb. by Pioneer Theatre, University of Utah, 300 S. 1400 E., Salt Lake City, UT. Directed by Charles Morey, with Claire Brownell, Fletcher McTaggart, Madison Micucci, Paul Kiernan, Philip Kerr, and J. Todd Adams. Set designed by Gary English. Call 801 581 6961 or check the website.

ALSO VISIT THE MAIN + OFFICIAL BUREAU OF ARTS AND CULTURE SITE: 

http://bureauartsandculture.wixsite.com/magazine

SAM SHEPARD IN SAN DIEGO 

Sean Murray is The Artistic Director of two Classic shows written by One of America's Most Original Playwright's, Sam SHEPARD. Currently Playing in The Old Town San Diego District. A Perfect Location for Sam SHEPARD's Literature World and a Brave Programming Choice. Old Town San Diego is a Preserved Town from Pioneer Days with Many Archival Displays, Stores, Historical Architecture and a Fun Family Spot. 

  

BUREAU: Tell us about your recent / upcoming SAM SHEPARD Productions . 

SM: Cygnet Theatre has begun the inclusion of a rotating repertory component to our season. We started this last season with Tom Stoppard’s Travesties and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. These two shows were connect through content, the first being loosely based upon the second. This season we are continuing the repertory project but with a difference: we are focusing exclusively on the work of a single playwright, Sam Shepard. Each play stands on its own, of course, and one doesn’t need to see one to appreciate the other. However, when you are able to experience these two different plays side-by-side, one begins to recognize common themes between them. Themes that are prevalent across many of his plays. Both plays explore a crisis of identity and betrayal. Characters in both shows experience an existential soul searching, a feeling that their lives are inauthentic, that in trying to redefine themselves they are trying to escape something that is true and frightening deep within them. It’s this reaching out into the void to find answers that aren’t there that drive the despair of these characters. They also are pretty funny people as they grapple with essential issues such as disconnection, empty searching and a deep sense of betrayal. When one is able to watch an actor play two different roles, in two different plays, tangle with these issues, it becomes apparent that Shepard is exploring large themes that span the breadth of his work. It makes his work all the more thrilling when this unique perspective is offered by the repertory format. 

BUREAU: When did you first become aware of SAM SHEPARD 's work ? 

SM: I first became aware of Shepard’s work in the early 80s, when I worked as an actor for the San Diego Repertory Theatre. At an early age, I was cast as Crow, the punk-rock-pirate from The Tooth of Crime for the Rep. I worked there when they presented the San Diego premieres of True West and Fool for Love, again in the early 80s. While I was in school at the North Carolina School of the Arts, I played Weston in Curse of the Starving Class, a show I later produced at Cygnet Theatre. 

BUREAU:  What are the challenges you face when staging TRUE WEST ? 

SM: There are many challenges in putting on True West! On a purely technical level, the script has the two brothers literally destroy the suburban kitchen that is the set. We have fifteen toasters, that all have to make real toast, a typewriter that is literally pounded into pulp by a golf club wielding character, the contents of kitchen cabinets thrown across the floor, a wall-phone that become a weapon after it is torn from the wall! The actual fact of all of this chaos has to be carefully considered. Since this is a rep, and on Saturdays and Sundays we perform both shows, the cleanup time (that is considerable) has to be included in the turnover time it takes to change from the kitchen set to Fool For Love’s motel set. The acting challenges are also vast. Each character goes on an existential journey from the quiet, tension-filled first scene to the all out chaotic war of the final scene. Pacing this progression is important. Finding the way into the levels of envy, threat and betrayal that these characters must portray is a frightening and exciting process for the actors. There is so much that is not said out loud by these characters that has to be fleshed out and expressed. 

BUREAU:  FOOL FOR LOVE, Sam Shepard's Obsession Play is both arduous andcan also be physically challenging. What's your take on this play ? 

The biggest challenge we’ve experienced in getting into the depths of Fool For Love has been in determining what is true and what isn’t. The characters each accuse each other of lying throughout the play, so one really can’t know whether the things that they say are to be believed or not. There is a layering in this play that conceals the actual truth that they are running from. Like Austin in True West, May is attempting to recreate herself anew. She is trying to escape what she was and forge a new self. The sudden reappearance of Eddie, like the reappearance of Lee in True West, forces a confrontation between one who wants to hold the other to who they have been, and the other who is trying to break with their past. When you take away the sense a person has of who they are or who they think they are, the question becomes “now who are you?” Eddie and May are passionately drawn to each other, even as they know that this passion is destroying them. Working on the split duality of the two brothers in True West sheds light on the split duality shared by Eddie and May. Regarding your question about the arduous physicality of Fool For Love, the physical aspect of the show develops out of the action of the play. As we explore what is actually happening between these characters, and we continue to raise their stakes in the play, that informs the level and veracity of the physical actions. 

BUREAU: Share with our readers your concerns when deciding to take on the plays of Sam Shepard and do you usually have an actor or actress in mind prior to making such a decision ? 

SM: These two particular plays are rooted in a sort of realism. I say “sort” of realism because on the surface they take place in a kitchen or a motel. There are real props, etc. The things that these characters say feel and sound like realistic dialogue on the surface. However, there is a very strong poetic quality to the language and imagery that Shepard has created. There is a lyrical quality to the realism that gives the plays their sense of iconic power. Finding actors who can develop these characters to the marrow and handle the heightened poetic language is not always easy. In addition, when you are trying to cast actors who have to also be ‘right’ for not just one role but two different roles, this adds a new challenge. I have worked with all of these actors before. I know their work, respect their processes and have a pretty clear idea about what they will bring to the shows. I asked Fran Gercke to play Eddie and Austin right off. His approach to acting is such a perfect fit for the style of these shows and he has a very strong connection with this kind of material. The same can be said of Manny Fernandes, who is playing Martin and Lee. I pretty much always pictured Carla Harting in the role of May. She is an inventive, intuitive and passionate actor and I knew that working with her on this role would be a great artistic project for her. I saw several other actors for the role of May, and was very impressed by them, but Carla lived up to my imagination and we cast her. So, yes, I think that having an idea about who might be in these shows as you are developing the project is probably true. We did hold open auditions for both shows and I saw many wonderful actors come in for them. But when you are casting the actor in two different roles, an actor might be perfect for one of them, but too young or too old for the other. So it means being patient until that actor who can bring something exciting to both parts walks through the door. 

FOOL FOR LOVE and TRUE WEST The CYGNET THEATER in SAN DIEGO CA USA
Written by Sam Shepard Director: Sean Murray Scenic Designer: Sean Murray Costume Designer: Jessica John Gercke Lighting Designer: Conor Mulligan Properties Designer: Angelica Ynfante CAST: Jill Drexler: Mom (TW) Manny Fernandes°: Martin/Lee Fran Gercke*°: Eddie/Austin Carla Harting*: May (FFL) Antonio TJ Johnson°: Old Man/Saul Kimmer Wigs & Makeup Designer: Peter Herman Sound Designer: Matt Lescault - Wood Stage Manager: Heather Brose  Phone: (619) 337-1525 Online: www.cygnettheatre.com In Person: Cygnet Theatre Old Town San Diego WHERE: Cygnet Theatre in Old Town 4040 Twiggs Street San Diego CA 92110 in The Old Town San Diego State Historic Park

The LITERATURE INTERVIEW

LUIS VALDEZ: WRITER

By Joshua TRILIEGI  

Luis VALDEZ changed The Entire Literature Landscape with his Fierce Hit Play, "ZOOT SUIT". Here in Southern California, The Play is much more than words. It is a personal and positive Idea that gave many people the inspiration to do something with the things they saw, not only in their homes and neighborhoods , but to reclaim what was happening in the media, to own the stories that they were being told and to simply reclaim what was rightfully theirs to begin with: Their Own Family Stories. In This Interview Bureau Editor Joshua TRILIEGI and Luis VALDEZ discuss his career, his working process and the development of a powerful force that continues to inspire millions of Indigenous People around the World and teaches everybody else. 

Mr Valdez went on to create The Film "LA BAMBA", which told the very important story of Latin Musician & Songwriter, Ritchie Valens. Fueled by the proliferation of 1950's Retro Nostalgic Films such as American Graffiti and its follow up Happy Days, as well as The Musical Biographical genre's popularity of projects like The Buddy Holly Story, Elvis and the like: LA BAMBA was the perfect project that entirely launched the energy and force of ZOOT SUIT into the stratosphere of popular media and culture, finally a story that rightfully claimed, explained and honored The Latino Experience, or as Luis Valdez might put it, "The Chicano Experience" in popular music history. The film itself touches on the family paradigm in both mythical and real circumstances. A beautiful & entertaining film that holds up today just as it originally did upon its creation. In the same way that Zoot Suit gave us the career of Edward James Olmos, 'The Chicano Bogart', La Bamba gave us a multitude of talent in front of and behind the scenes: Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Los Lobos & Others. Since then, Mr Valdez has continued his influence as The Worlds Leading Latino and Chicano Playwright traveling everywhere, all the time, sharing his great wealth of knowledge and experience with a world thirsty for truth, experience & entertainment. We are proud to bring you Luis VALDEZ, unexpurgated, uninhibited and unbeaten.

Joshua TRILIEGI: First of all, It is a pleasure to share your experience with our readers. We attended the Los Angeles Anniversary screening of Zoot Suit and later bought and re read the play. There is so much in it: reality, folklore and a fierce power as well as a genuinely hip musical element, could you share with us how that piece originally formed in your mind and how you developed it into the groundbreaking Broadway play ? 

Luis VALDEZ: In the Fall of 1977, I was commissioned by Gordon Davidson, artistic director of the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum in LA, to write a play based on an infamous chapter of Los Angeles history, specifically the Sleepy Lagoon Case of 1942 and the subsequent Zoot Suit Riots of 1943.    Although hardly forgotten in the Chicano barrios, the Pachuco Era had been buried in the dust bins of oblivion by Anglo officialdom which preferred not to commemorate painful past embarrassments.  An entire new generation born after World War II hardly knew anything about the pachucos, though inevitably, in the mid 60s, young Mexican Americans began to call themselves Chicanos, as the legacy of their zoot-suited barrio forbearers kicked in, inheriting their racial pride, urban slang and cultural defiance. 

The generational difference was that many of these Chicano(a)s were now speaking their patois in colleges or universities. But the painful sting of the Zoot Suit Riots and the Sleepy Lagoon Case still persisted in the barrios, like an old suppurating wound that was taking decades to heal.  My play thus inadvertently became a way to deal directly with the psychic damage inflicted on the East LA barrios by the Zoot Suit Riots by opening up the old racist wound and airing it in the public arena of the theater. The truth of this became evident when the play sold out at the Mark Taper even before it opened, and when the public followed the play to the Aquarius Theater  in Hollywood.  It ran there for eleven months, and in the end, more than 400,000 people came to see it.  Half of them were Chicanos, most of whom had never seen a play before. This then motivated the move to the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City in 1979, where Zoot Suit became the first Chicano play to make it to Broadway. 

 The roots of the play, however, lie far from the Great White Way. I was born in a farm labor camp in Delano, California in 1940.  In those days Delano was a hot spot in the San Joaquin Valley, and we had our own pachucos in the  “Chinatown” barrio on the westside.  One of them was my cousin Billy; another was his running partner C.C.. Billy spoke a fluid pachuco patois, so he taught me to call myself “Chicano” even thought I was only six. I learned a lot about the pachucos, including their slang and style of being, in this most intimate and familial way. Tragically, Billy died a violent death in Phoenix, eighteen knife wounds to the chest.  But his running partner C.C. survived, joined the Navy and came home one day to marry and settle down.  In 1965, when I told my mother in San Jose that I was returning to Delano to form a farm workers theater with the grape strikers, my Mom said: “Oh, you’re going to work with C.C.?”   “C.C.?” I said, “Is that vato still around?”  “Mijo,” my mother responded, “Don’t you know who C.C. is?  He’s Cesar Chavez.”

In 1970, El Teatro Campesino, the Farm Workers Theater born on the picket lines of the Great Delano Grape Strike, produced my first full length play since college. It was called “Bernabe,”  with a character called “La Luna” appearing in a bit part as a mythical Pachuco in a suit of lights. The character was so intriguing, I knew right away that he deserved a play of his own.  Seven years later, when Gordon Davidson asked me to write about the Sleepy Lagoon, I chose to make El Pachuco the mythical central figure, both as master of ceremonies and alter ego of Henry “Hank” Reyna, the protagonist and leader of the 38 Street Gang. Above all, El Pachuco became the guide, the storyteller, so that the history of the Sleepy Lagoon Case and the Zoot Suit Riots could be told through a Chicano POV. The rest, as the saying goes, is American theater history.

Joshua TRILIEGI: Something about your work is so very true, genuine and original, at the same time, you speak for a good many individuals in the community. Would you talk a bit about staying true to one's vision and at the same time tapping into a larger truth, for not only our own communities, but for the world. 

Luis VALDEZ: I wrote my first plays at San Jose State, graduating in ’64 with a BA in English with an emphasis in playwriting.  It was not the most practical choice for a son of migrant farm workers, much less a Chicano, but I was determined to follow my heart.  I had gotten hooked on theatre in the first grade in 1946, when I was cast in the Christmas school play.  I was to play a monkey wearing a mask my teacher made, turning my brown taco bag into paper maché.  I was exhilarated. Then the week of my great debut, my migrant family was evicted from the labor camp where we had overstayed our welcome.  I was never in the play.  A great hole of despair opened up in my chest.  It could have destroyed me.  But I learned early on that negatives can always be turned into positives. I took with me two things:  one, the secret of paper maché, which allowed to make my own masks and puppets; and two, a deep, residual anger for my family’s eviction from the labor camp. Twenty years later, I went to Cesar Chavez and pitched him my idea for a theater of, by and for farm workers. And so the hole in my chest became the hungry mouth of my creativity, into which I have been pouring plays, poems, essays, screenplays, books, etc. for almost 70 years. 

Joshua TRILIEGI: The Los Angeles and California scene has changed, grown and developed into a much stronger unification than ever before, [ Since the 1970's ] when ZOOT SUIT made it's initial impression. Your work is a big part of that growth.Tell us about your humble beginnings making plays and skits locally, before unveiling some of your opus masterworks. 

Luis VALDEZ: The challenge of creating theater with striking campesinos was a humbling experience. Cesar had warned me from the start: “There’s no money to do theatre in Delano,” he told me. “There’s no actors, no stage, no time even to rehearse. We’re on the picket line night day. Do you still want to take a crack at it?”  “Absolutely, Cesar!”  I responded. “What an opportunity!”  I was, of course, thinking about spirit of the movement he had started.  But he was absolutely right. By necessity, El Teatro Campesino was born on the picket line.  In time, we began to perform at the NFWA’S Friday night meetings. The National Farm Workers Association may have been rich in spirit but it was dead broke. After college, I had joined the San Francisco Mime Troupe for a year, performing in city parks, learning the improvisational techniques of Commedia dell Arte. This knowledge proved to be more useful in Delano than all the theater history I had learned at SJS. But my greatest revelation came from the campesinos themselves.  As actors and audience, they taught me to stay down to earth; to stay away from all the pretentious artsy crap and to get to the point with actos that were clear and hard hitting.  Above all, to stay positive and hopeful.  “Don’t talk about it, do it!” became an essential Teatro precept.  Later when we began to stage Actos about the Chicano Movement, the Vietnam War and racism in the schools, we found our audiences in LA, Chicano and New York no less responsive to our basic simplicity than the original grape strikers.  “Zoot Suit” came about a dozen years after the birth of El Teatro, but the roots of my musical play like those of the original pachucos reach deep into the barrio earth.

Joshua TRILIEGI: I attended the auditions for LA BAMBA at Los Angeles Theater Complex in the Nineteen - Eighties. The excitement around the project was, and still is, very much alive and entirely current. Tell us a bit about that experience. 

Luis VALDEZ: Before it was a film, LA BAMBA was originally going to be a stage musical by me and my brother Daniel.  It was actually conceived on the Opening Night of Zoot Suit in New York.  We were at the Winter Garden Theater on Broadway, and as I made my final rounds before curtain time,  I dropped into my brother’s dressing room on the second floor. As the lead actor in the play with Edward James Olmos, Daniel was in high spirits.  We both were.  We had came a long way from Delano. Celebrating our success, we pledged that now that we had brought the 40s to Broadway, we should bring the 50s.  But how, with what?  At that exact moment, we heard mariachi music. Looking out the dressing room window, down toward Seventh Avenue, we spotted a gilded, fully suited band of mariachis playing up toward us.  We didn’t know it at that moment but the President of Mexico had sent mariachis to serenade us on opening night. Daniel and I recognized the tune immediately.  It was the answer to the question we had just posed to each other about our next musical. We simultaneously 

laughed and said the words to each other: LA BAMBA!

It took five years to bring the project to fruition.  The biggest problem turned out to be the lack of biographical material about Ritchie Valens, born Richard Valenzuela, in 1941 Los Angeles. There were a few articles in old magazines, but no published book or biography.  What’s worse, Daniel had no success at all in finding surviving members of Ritchie’s family. They were long gone from Pacoima in the San Fernando Valley, where they lived in the 50s, 60s and 70s, and in the early 80s, before the internet,  there was no social network to tap into. Without direct contact with the family, LA BAMBA was turning into a pipe dream. Somewhat dispirited, Daniel came back from Los Angeles to San Juan Bautista, home base of El Teatro Campesino, vowing nonetheless to keep on searching.  Then one night, as life’s ironies would have it, he finally met Ritchie’s older half brother, Bob Morales. He met him in San Juan Bautista  in Daisy’s Saloon! It turned out that Bob and most of Ritchie’s family now lived fifteen miles away in Watsonville, and he occasionally frequented Daisy’s with his biker friends. One thing quickly led to another. Bob took Daniel to meet Connie Valenzuela,Ritchie’s mom, then Daniel took me to meet the entire family.  Within days, we took the story to our old friend Taylor Hackford in Hollywood, who agreed to option Ritchie’s story as a biopic for the big screen with Columbia Pictures. I wrote the screenplay over the winter and once we got a green light, I directed the picture the following summer, with my brother as associate producer. In the end, our biopic ended up grossing more than 100 million world wide. Very few movies come into being quite so precipitously. But there were twists of fate. We had originally intended the part of Ritchie Valens as a vehicle for my bro, But by the time we got the green light, Daniel graciously conceded that at 37 he could no longer pass as 17. So for all of his efforts, he generously created an opportunity to make a star out of Lou Diamond Phillips.

Joshua TRILIEGI: A writers experience with his or her collaborators is rather important, in your case: Los Lobos, Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips to name a few. Will you talk about how much input you had at the time these projects were in development in choosing these fellow artists. 

Luis VALDEZ: During the casting of Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum in ’78, our greatest dilemma turned out to be the part of El Pachuco.   I wrote the script with my brother Daniel in mind, though I saw him as both Henry Reyna and El Pachuco. The issue of nepotism aside, we had been collaborating within El Teatro Campesino for a dozen years before Zoot Suit came along.  So it was only natural for him to serve as my unique role model for the play. Unfortunately,unlike film, he could not play two roles onstage simultaneously.  So we set out on our quest to find one or the other. After an exhausting two weeks in LA, unable to find an alternate Henry or Pachuco among hundreds of actors, I took the weekend to be with my wife Lupe back in San Juan, where she was recuperating after giving birth to our third son Lakin on the very day I finished the script. Daniel continued with the auditions. A day or so later, he called me with subdued excitement: “Guess what?” he said, “I found El Pachuco!”

It turned out that after another disappointing day in LA, my bro met a a trim Chicano actor with a Bogart face strolling down the halls of the Mark Taper Annex across from the Music Center. Daniel asked him if he was there for the auditions. The Chicano Bogie responded: “What auditions?”  Apparently, he knew nothing about Zoot Suit, but he was willing to read for a part. So Daniel read him. I had given my brother the option to play either of the two leads, but once he saw and heard Edward James Olmos read, he knew he had found El Pachuco.  

   

A spirit of creative collaboration is always a necessity in the theater, but given my experience with El Teatro, “Zoot Suit” could not have come about any other way.  Eddie Olmos created El Pachuco, as surely as El Pachuco helped to create Edward James Olmos the movie star. The fierce intensity of his stage presence no doubt came from his very being, but Eddie had a “killer instinct” that captured the essence of the pachuco phenomenon in the 40s.  Oddly, in a similar way, Lou Diamond Phillips captured the killer instinct that made Ritchie Valens a rock star; though in Ritchie’s case, it was mixed with the residual innocence of a 17 year old. This innocence is the key to the enduring poignancy of  “Donna,” a classic teenage lament of long lost love if there ever was one. Finding this mix of guilelessness with ferocity was the challenge in casting the star of LA BAMBA.  We literally auditioned over 600 actors from Los Angeles to New York. Finally in Dallas, Texas, we found an actor who had been making Christian films.  He came in with a certain intensity to read for Bob, the role he obviously coveted.  But under all that bravado was an unmistakably poignant heart. So Lou Diamond Phillips became Ritchie Valens, and Ritchie became Lou, with all the innocent ferocity that made him reach for the stars.

None of this, of course, would have been possible without my musical collaborators. In the case of “Zoot Suit,” I owe a debt of gratitude to Lalo Guerrero, the Godfather and Gran Maestro de la Musica Chicana.  With his permission, I tapped directly into five of his classics from the 1940s to turn my play into a kick-ass form of cabaret theater, if not into a full fledged musical. Lalo’s music is unquestionably the Pachuco soul of “Zoot Suit.” Similarly, Ritchie’s music is the soul of LA BAMBA, but it could never have come back to life without Los Lobos. We were friends long before their first album, “Just Another Band from East LA”launched their remarkable career.  But working on the film’s sound track with Los Lobos, featuring the voice of David Hidalgo as Ritchie’s, was a collaborative joy.  LA BAMBA took them to the top of the charts for the first time, but they’ve been up there many times since then. So has the great Carlos Santana, another of my collaborators on the movie. It is his subtle, penetrating guitar solos that follow Ritchie’s emotional trajectory throughout the film. Let’s face it. Genius in the barrio is genius everywhere. ¡Ajua!

Joshua TRILIEGI: In the neighborhood that I grew up in, at that time, there were several different camps and schools of thought that became represented by imagery and eventually posters in the rooms of our friends: Farah Fawcett, Bruce Lee, Led Zeppelin, Gerry Lopez, David Partridge and of course the Incredible Image of Artist IGNACIO GOMEZ who designed the image for ZOOT SUIT. That particular Image always has and always will mean something very special to many of us. Talk with us about IMAGE and TEXT and that very important relationship between artist and writer. 

Luis VALDEZ: The first poster for ZOOT SUIT was created from a drawing by José Montoya, the late great Chicano poet, muralista, and maestro from the Sacramento barrios. With both paint and ink, José had been capturing the Pachuco Image for decades, in poems, lithographs and silk screen posters. In 1973, he and his homies at the R.C.A.F. (the Rebel Chicano Artists Front that playfully dubbed themselves the Royal Chicano Air Force ) even staged a piece at the Third Teatro Festival in San José called “Recuerdos del Palomar.”  Decked out as pachucos in zoot suits with their huisas in mini skirts, José and his cronies did not pretend to present a play as much as offer a form of performance art.  Characteristically, José’s pachuco images were always imbued with a tinge of self-deprecating humor; which was exactly the quality of the first ZOOT SUIT poster. This image represented the play in its first draft, a two week workshop production run as part of the “New Theatre For Now” series at the Taper in Spring ‘78.  

When I rewrote the play to open the main season that Fall, the Center Theatre Group hired Ignacio Gomez to create a new image more in concert with the growing impact of the production. More or less styled on Edward James Olmos’ interpretation of the role, El Pachuco now became a towering figure straddling City Hall. More in line with the mythical dimensions of the lead character in my play, the image was elegant, stark and grand.  Almost immediately, thanks to Nacho’s brilliant skill as an artist, El Pachuco became iconic. As seen in newspapers, magazines and on the sides of municipal buses, the image seemed to burrow its way into the public’s consciousness, especially in the Chicano community.  With all due respect and modesty, it remains a perfect example of how an artist and a playwright coming together can create a powerful symbol that speaks across multiple generations, perhaps even helping to heal some old psychic wounds in the City of the Angels.

Joshua TRILIEGI: The trajectory of a career has its own pulse and arc. You have continued to stay busy with collaborations of all sorts: El Teatro Campesino, San Diego Repertory Projects, PBS great Performances and so on. Tell us about the recent Ancient Goddess Project and the role that Kinan Valdez has taken on since 2006. 

Luis VALDEZ: El Teatro Campesino will celebrate its 50^th anniversary in 2015. After a half century of uninterrupted artistic and cultural activism, we are proud to declare ourselves a multi-generational theater family.  We could not have survived any other way.  My beloved wife, Lupe Trujillo Valdez, joined El Teatro in 1968. As an activist at Fresno State University, she was the daughter of campesinos,  a supporter of the United Farm Workers, and the first college-educated Chicana to “run away with the circus.”  We were married in ’69, as much for love as for our shared political beliefs.  We have three sons – Anahuac (’71), Kinan (’73) and Lakin (’78) – all born into the Teatro family, all artists and activists in their own right, all devoted to the betterment of the world around them through social justice and the arts.  Other 40 year plus members and founders of the Teatro, such as my biological brother Daniel and spiritual brother Phil Esparza, have also raised their children and grandchildren within our family of families.

Cesar Chavez died in 1993, signaling the beginning of an organizational change in the Chicano Movement that El Teatro Campesino began to naturally undergo in the mid nineties. It was nothing more or less than the passing of leadership from one generation to the next. The older generation continued to serve on the Board of Directors, but the younger Generation took the reins of day to day operations.  In this regard, my son Anahuac was the first the serve as the new General Manager of the company.  In due time both Kinan and Lakin became associate artistic directors, until Kinan assumed full leadership as Producing Artistic Director in 2007.  During all this time, they continued to write, direct, produce and act in new plays of their own creation.  They staged Teatro classics such as “La Gran Carpa de los Rasquachis” and took full responsibility for the Christmas plays in Mission San Juan Bautista.  Working with other young artists in the company, they staged world theater classics like Alfred Jarry’s “Ubu Roi” and Bertolt Brecht’s “The Measures Taken.” Experimenting with musical forms, Kinan also wrote and directed a goddess play called “The Fascinatrix” and another quasi-satirical work called “I Love You, Sam Burguesa.”  Their objective was obviously to expand the range of El Teatro’s work, but with other works they consciously stuck to the political core. To wit, in 2010 Lakin wrote and directed a piece called “Victor in Shadow,” about the martyred Chilean folksinger Victor Jara. The three brothers then collaborated on three plays based on Mayan CreationMyths, including “Popul Vuh – Parts One and Two” written and directed by Kinan; and “Popul Vuh – Part Three, the Magic Twins” written and directed by Lakin. More recently, this summer in 2014, Kinan and Lakin collaborated with the La Jolla Playhouse/San Diego REP, playing the leads in “El Henry,” Herbert Siguenza’s raucous adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV part one.

Joshua TRILIEGI: You are considered The Godfather of Latin Theater Worldwide. Has there been pressure to create a certain type of work with that mantle attached ? And how do we as writers, as artists, as performers retain that same vitality and spontaneity in our work, after the fame and notoriety ?

Luis VALDEZ: In 2010, I was invited to Mexico City by the CNT ( Compania Nacional de Teatro) to translate and direct the world premiere of ZOOT SUIT in Spanish.  As far as I know, no other Chicano playwright/director had ever been offered such an honor, so I accepted with the humility of a long lost orphan given the chance to finally come home. Ironically, I was not born in Mexico. Neither were my Mom and Dad, who were born in Arizona early in the Twentieth century. The real immigrants in my family were my abuelos – my grandparents and great grandparents - who crossed the border from the northern state of Sonora before the Mexican Revolution over a century ago.  Why then did I feel like an orphan? Because all my life, despite myAmerican birth, I had been treated like a Mexican. Here then is another example of how negatives can always be turned into positives.  As an indio-looking, hyphenated Mexican American, I had no choice but to declare myself a Chicano; which if you see it my way is a Twenty-first century New American with a hemispheric identity. I did not buy into that fictitious line drawn in the desert called the border that separates rich from impoverished, white from brown, “America” from “Latin” America.  So despite all the fame and notoriety my career has brought me, I remain brown and indio-looking. I feel no more pressure to remain Latino than to be an Anglo.  I just am who I am, and that’s all there is to it. In the final analysis, assimilation is hardly a one way street. The world’s cultures have been assimilating each other for centuries. Sooner or later, most people in this hemisphere will realize that we are all New Americans.  Until then, I rely on the struggle for social justice to keep my work spontaneous and vital.

Joshua TRILIEGI: Your public appearances are totally off the cuff, unrehearsed and down right bold. I love that about you, there is no lie. Not unlike The Zoot Suiter finding his power once he actually takes off the suit and finds himself underneath the costume. To whom would you attribute that particular trait in your earliest influences ? 

Luis VALDEZ: My earliest influences no doubt came from my immediate family – my parent, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and their compadres. They were a vital, crusty, earthy lot. But as a kid I couldn’t help but notice right away that something was not right. Life was rigged somehow. Despite all our sweat and back breaking labor in the fields, we were always jodidos, poor as hell and out of gas, with nothing to do but move on to the next menial job. I hated stoop labor, not because it was unbearably hard but because it was humiliating. All the more because wages were dirt cheap. My folks kept their spirits up by developing a wicked sense of ironic humor, but I quickly realized that this was the only way they could tolerate the shit pies in the face that fate was giving them. Despite the constant looming despair, they kept me and my siblings in school, knowing it was our only way out. In due time I discovered that working with my hands did not prevent me from using my imagination. So even though I was picking cotton, potatoes, cherries, prunes and apricots as fast as I could, my mind was automatically running riot with ideas for bilingual stories, jokes and songs. With this kind of daily mental exercise, my school lessons became easy, a way to prove my worth to my teachers and myself in the face of discrimination. Like my uncles and cousins, I learned to defend myself with stinging ironic humor using the Pachuco slang of the barrio, but I also developed a proficiency in English.Mentally code-switching back and forth between Spanish and English, I eventually developed a spontaneous fluidity of expression that can only come from a well-exercised brain.   Like I say, any negative can always be turned into a positive. I won a scholarship to attend San Jose State College in 1958, as a Math and Physics major my first year.  By my second year, I knew what I really had to do.  I had to set my imagination free by releasing all those stories, jokes and songs still zinging in my head.  I had to admit to myself that I was an actor and a playwright, despite the fact that a career in the theater was totally impractical. So I switched majors to English, and never looked back.   I became what I always wanted to be – a Chicano playwright.

Joshua TRILIEGI: Thank You so much for taking the time to share your experience with our readers. How can the public support current and developing projects and productions by ETC ?

Luis VALDEZ: This summer El Teatro Campesino is producing my latest full-length play, VALLEY OF THE HEART, in our playhouse in San Juan Bautista.  It runs from August thru September, before moving on to other venues as part of our Fiftieth Anniversary celebration. If you come on Labor Day weekend, you can see both VALLEY in our theater and POPUL VUH outdoors in the park. If you can’t make it to San Juan, you can help us by donating online through our website at elteatrocampesino.com.  But please support any of the Latino theater productions in your area. We fervently continue to believe that “Theater is the Creator of Community, and Community is the Creator of Theater.” For as our ancient Mayan ancestors believed:  CREER ES CREAR. ¡Si Se Puede!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS  [ REVIEWS FROM PREVIOUS ARCHIVED SHOWS]

PITY THE PROUD ONES Written by Kurt Dana MAXEY

Directed by Ben GUILLORY at Robey Theater Company

LATC Downtown Los Angeles

JUAN and JOHN By ROGER GUENVEUR SMITH

LATC Downtown Los Angeles

JANE FONDA in the COURT of PUBLIC OPINION

Written & Directed by Terry Jastrow / Co - Director Michelle Danner

Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica CA USA

Garbo' s Cuban Lover A Play at

Macha Theater in West Hollywood

Roger Guenveur Smith & Marc Anthony Thompson

TWENTY 20 : A Multi Media Performance Presentation

PITY THE PROUD ONES

Written by Kurt Dana MAXEY

Directed by Ben GUILLORY

Robey Theater Company / LATC

Pity the Proud Ones currently playing at The Robey Theatre Company

at LATC Downtown is a complicated story to relay. It is the fourth

play to be produced directly from their writers workshop which develops

and assists writers in the creation of new works. For a play that takes

place in a House of ill repute, it is rather tame. Presented with a formality

fitting for it's period. The subjects of sex, opium, slavery, and politics

are handled almost as if we are watching a play that was written and

performed at the time this play is set : 1915. There is much talk of

history, the Cuban skirmishes of 1898 with Buffalo Soldiers, The impending

war in Europe ( WWI ), the sinking of the Lucitania, Irish Slaves of 1649 and

the Seminole Indians. But at its core, this is an old fashioned story about

family, secrets, inheritance and manhood. Loyalty, money and racial history

mix together and the weather always plays a part in the moods.

Estranged family members reunite under arduous conditions, in this case,

the eye of a Hurricane. Although the location is set in Florida, it could

be New Orleans, Cuba, maybe even Jamaica, early Australia or other territory

where poor whites, enslaved and newly freed blacks come together, fall in

love, go into business, have children and settle together. Protecting one's

secrets, playing the society game, breaking the codes and getting ones due

all come together in this five person ensemble that is tightly produced and

interesting to watch. Martin O'Grady returns to the outback while a storm

is brewing on the horizon. He was once a reluctant second generation pimp

whom fell in love with his employee and had a son with another woman years

ago. His son is an emancipated young man just a few shades darker than his

irish blooded father. Apparently there is money owed and secrets afloat.

While Martin enjoys his drink and reveling in history, his son James is set

on getting paid and taking to the road with Ella Mae whom works the books

for the local Madame that just happens to be his Dad's ex employee and lover,

Elizabeth Marie. Whom also shares business and pleasure with Pettigrew, the

barkeep and somewhat of a mystery man in this tale. Elizabeth enjoys her pipe

and is somewhat stuck between her past and everyone else's future. Although

this is certainly an ensemble work of literature, the stand out performance

when it comes to tone, period and personification is by Actor Dorian Christian

Baucum playing James, who nails the style and body language in a way that

allows us to truly believe where we are and that this is another time, another

place. These are historical characters, but there is a mythical aspect to them.

James struts and guffaws as if his best friend is the horse he rode on to get here.

With a vocal stylization and stage presence that is both commanding and endearing,

we want him to get his money, pay the Madame and get free. Although his father

is reluctant to do so, he too would like to see his ' boy ' become a man and by

the time things are wrapped up, we witness this act. But not before we learn a

few things about Martin's history," Family is more than just blood ", Elizabeth's

journey ," Were all owned by something or someone. " and James's dilemma,

" Don't call me boy anymore."

Act two is energized by a Hurricane as well as an inspired performance by

Ben Jurrand whom plays Pettigrew,a physically challenged character whom

has been damaged by history in a way that we hope Jamie does not have to be.

A price that earlier generations paid, so young bucks like James could go out

and kick some ass, as we hear about in the opening scene. Halfway through the

play, Pettigrew repeats the line " I was thinking about discretion, privacy

and the K.K.K. " As if James has not learned of these facts. Although there

is talk of an uncle Pat whom was a priest and a Widow Fernandez whom cooks

up a spicy paella, the play stays within its five person ensemble in a

traditionally structured style and set piece. The work is presented not quite,

' in the round ', but perhaps as a two sided experience with the audience on

either side of, and above the players, an interesting choice by the set designer,

Miguel Montalvo, with costumes by Naila Aladdin Sanders. This is a spirited

production which uses its space and ideas smartly and economically.

Caroline Morahan as Elizabeth Marie gives an emotional performance which is

striking, raw and spent, in that her character's passion was used up long ago,

although she is clearly young, lovely and lovable, we see the price she paid

to get this far. One thinks of previous Madame's in famous literature such as,

Steinbeck' s East of Eden or Nelson Algren' s , Walk on the Wild Side and here

we see something completely different. A limbo state where being in power is

powerless and " Being in love is too costly ". She tells us early on. Ella Mae

is played by Staci Mitchell with a quiet reserve. Ella Mae is a business woman

to be, but we get the sense that she will never run a house of ill repute. With

eyes on Jamee or Jamie to her, she could supply him with enough security so that

they may create a family of their own someday. This is a play written with a heavy

past and a certain future for its characters, when it comes to the now moments, there

aren't many. The Hurricane comes and goes, the characters resolve their differences

but the damage done remains. We are left thinking about pasts, presents and uncertain

futures after viewing this work. An interesting piece that conjures history, taboos

and family secrets in an up close and intimate nature. We suggest this Production.

I may even see this play again, later in its run, as director Ben Guillory was present

and taking extensive notes, one gets the sense that this cast is just warming up.

JUAN and JOHN

By ROGER GUENVEUR SMITH at

The Los Angeles Theatre Center

In the Summer of 1965, a fight between two men on a baseball

field symbolized a planet in turmoil. A world grappling with War,

Racism and divisive Cultures. The Watts riots, the invasion of

the Dominican Republic, and the brawl at Candlestick Park as well

as biographical points in Roger Guenveur Smith's life collide to

create a quilt of ideas in this one person Theater work currently

playing at LATC.

The sounds of baseball crowds and the Beach Boys are the

backdrop for this scenario and memory plays a key roll in

all of this. Mr Smith confesses early on, " I have a war

inside my head / Yo tengo un guerra en mi cabesa " . So

does society & life is the cost. We learn about Baseball,

as well as Mr Smith' s look back at childhood, the summer

of '65 and the way in which black & brown politics has

completely devastated both groups to a degree that has

hurt both African Americans, Latin Americans and Sports

in general. How a war, a riot, race and competitive sports

boil into a young man's mind to create a fever dream that

evolves into a sort of Jeckyl & Hide experience which

starts and ends withhim burning a baseball card while the

radio D J' s repeat the mantra, " Burn Baby Burn ".

Roger flashes forward and back between his own experience as

a spectator and his personification of both John Roseboro,

the African American Catcher for the L.A. Dodgers and Juan Marichal

the Dominican - born San Francisco Giants' Pitcher. So you have young

Roger, the baseball fan whom knows nothing of Malcolm X and very

little of Martin Luther King, the adult Roger whom is going through

a separation of his own which is estranging to his daughter Luna.

You have John played with accents and body language and Juan, also

played via accent and rhythmic interpretation. Roger shifts from

each time and place at will, allowing us little time to catch up, he's

pitching fast and hard here. " Hey batter, batter , batter, hey batter,

Swing ! " Employing images of grade school photos, postcards from his

parents real life Motel, baseball imagery as well as war photographs of

the period sets the tone of this whirlwind experience and resolution of

the initial event which took some 20 or so years to finally resolve.

For some it may never be resolved, for Juan and John it was resolved

in the early nineteen eighties. Setting the backdrop for this skirmish,

Roger shares his own family's journey, commenting on the neighborhood

of Baldwin Hills where many of the streets begin with the prefix : Don.

" My mom lives on the corner of Don Cornelious and Don King ". Roger

has you laughing even when the streets are on fire.

Mr Smith's catholic childhood as well as his daughter's passing interest

of both this religion and the musical artist, Peaches are brought to the

fore in humorous vignettes that reveal life in all its unresolved details.

Walter O' Malley, Chavez Ravine, Dodger History and Sandy Kofax' s

career highlights careen into a pastiche or gumbo of sorts that Roger

serves up spicy and in abundance. Apparently Kofax sat out for Yom

Kippur that season. Four months earlier, troops are on the ground in

Vietnam, while Martin Luther King states , " I strongly deplore the

violence and equally deplore the war in Vietnam ". Both Juan and John

have been oriented as soldiers. Roger tells us of brave men in the

sixties whom went to Washington D.C and self immolated ( burned themselves)

for peace, while he went to Washington DC ( years later) to star in films for

HBO, a kind of self depreciating biographical comparison that explains how

different we all seem to be when compared to the heady and political heroes

we often claim to emulate today. Hinting that Nobel Peace prizes are for

those whom stop war.

The actual event between Juan and John is central and secondary to this overall

arching story. It all started when Dodger's Catcher John Roseboro nicked Juan

Marichal while throwing the ball back to his pitcher Sandy Kofax. In response,

Juan struck John Roseboro with a baseball bat. Both teams entered the field

and a full on baseball ' riot ' took place. Marichal was suspended for 9 games,

fined & later ignored for years by the baseball Hall of Fame. Surprisingly,

and as a testament to forgiveness, friendship and the human ability to make

positive changes with our history, Roseboro visits Marichal some twenty years

later in the Dominican Republic and resets the perceptions of this divisive

period in our culture. The two men, their families and countries use this meeting

as a symbol of forgiveness and transcendence of the past. A remarkable fact indeed.

But not before we experience Roger's hilarious upbringing here in L.A. with

moments in his parents Motel where Martin Luther King forgot to pay the bill,

his mother dresses him as a saint and Bishop's are quick to slap him around.

Personifying Roseboro, he tells us about his training with Roy Campanella,

his Boy Scout experience as the only black kid in Ashland, Ohio and the phone

calls which led to he and Marichal moving ahead from this incident. As Marichal,

we learn that these two men had much more in common than either may have

understood at the time and both were manipulated by an atmosphere of machismo,

competition and self hatred. Later, each man autographed photos of that day.

Meanwhile, grown up Roger is separating with the mother of his daughter Luna,

watching the modern day Dodgers deflect another recent violent event where

two men are accused of attacking a fan of the San Francisco Giants on opening

day at Dodger Stadium and resolving these issues through dialogue. By the time

this show is over, we have witnessed a split personality ( Latin / African) fused

into one. Juan and John become friends, Roger' s daughter forgives him and we

realize that everyday events like this one, large and small do effects us all.

Wars, headlines, public events and personal stories have a way of prejudicing

our views of things, ultimately hurting us, hurting others and hurting children

in the balance. Young Roger burns his Base Ball Cards in 1965, while an adult

Roger watches his city burn to the ground, for a second time, for a whole other

reason, although this fact is only intimated, as the play ends Roger takes out

a match and lights it. We get the sense that there will be more fires in the future.

But for now, this chapter is resolved. What will society throw at us next time ?

Will we be manipulated ? This work of history, personal and public gives us

something to think about regarding race, sports, politics and healing through

forgiveness. It speaks directly to the aftermath of such events. Mr. Juan Marichal

plans to attend the final matinee performance of this show in person, that says a lot.

Marc Anthony Thompson provides imagery and musical aspects and co - director

Patricia Mc Gregor both assist in creating a cohesive experience which is both

educational & enlightening. For those unaware of Mr Smith's body of work, Roger

is a Spike Lee regular, a student of the Yale School of Drama, he is currently

teaching at Cal Arts and has worked with a number of Award winning Film Directors.

He received an Obie for his Huey P. Newton Show which was later made into a telefilm

on PBS.

JANE FONDA 
in the COURT 
of PUBLIC OPINION

starring Anne Archer as Jane Fonda

Written & Directed by Terry Jastrow 
Co - Director Michelle Danner

Edgemar Center for the Arts 
in Santa Monica CA USA

Jane Fonda has been on trial for decades ( by public opinion)

ever since standing up for peace against the Vietnam War. Writer &

Director Terry Jastrow has crafted an interesting document which

describes the events that led up to Jane Fonda' s involvement in

the Peace movement of that incredibly divisive era in our History.

As well as a look back at that period via her confrontation with a

group of Veterans during a film shoot in Connecticut , June of 1988.

Mr Jastrow interviewed Ms Fonda as well as the veterans of this real

life meeting and travelled to Vietnam, even stayed at the same Hotel.

The set is St. Michael's Episcopal Church. A giant television set

towers above the players which conveniently displays actual television

newscasts and raw footage of this the first televised war, maybe even

the last one as well.

The Play is not only a history lesson, but also a cautionary tale.

It could be titled, " Six Angry Men Vs. Jane Fonda " with the pastor

of this church as the reluctant referee. Early on, Anne Archer as Jane

exclaims, " I am an American, just as much as any of you ". Sentiments

that the peace movement to this day seems to repeat to those on the

front lines of war, making this a very relevant conversation and an

engaging work of Theater. Through the TV, President Johnson tirades

in his trademark Texas drawl that, " We wage a War on Tyranny and

Aggression " . Sound familiar ? The parallels of repeating history

are startling to anyone paying attention. Hollow statements that make

no sense are echoed.The very act of war and aggression are tyranny

ultimately, and Vietnam is the worst example.

Jane works her explanations slow and deliberate while the soldiers

spew expletives that would make any other Lady of society wilt in

comparison. Understandably, these soldiers feel betrayed by the

stances of Fonda and her peace-nik pals which included Tom Hayden.

Jane : We shouldn't have been there. Soldier : Oh, Fuck you. Many

of the rumors, lies and outright propaganda of the sixties and

seventies have been solidified into exacting hate and vitriol by

the time ' Hanoi Jane' is filming in their state, here in 1988

during the height of the Regan era in America. Wearing pink toe

nail polish and blouse to match, Ms. Fonda attempts to dismantle

these opinions as she explains herself one event at a time, starting

with the draft ( 500 servicemen deserted daily ) and leading up to

Nixon's escalation of the war and the tragedy's and deaths at Kent

State University and on into her famous speech in Washington D.C.

and finally her appearance and photo session while visiting Vietnam

on top of Vietcong weaponry that was used against our own troops.

We see how this articulate and concerned young actress is used as

an agitprop and demonized by the press on both sides of the war.

To the point where her own father ( whom served in World War II )

receives death threats. When he requests that the FBI assist the

family, Jane' s reply is one in which she views her famous father

Henry being duped by the Feds: at this point, no one is trusted

wholeheartedly.

We learn through Jane' s confrontation's with the six soldiers,

five from 'Nam and one a World War II vet that, " 70% of US

Citizens were against the war in Vietnam ". By the time Jane

goes to Washington DC, she is backed by 100,000 marchers for

peace and has already toured the U.S. researching how people

feel about this extremely unpopular war. By the end of act I,

the vets are fighting among themselves. Real life vets are

shown on TV expressing their jaded acts of war.We are shown

footage of shootings, devastation and several presidents

exclaiming absurd strategies. The cast of players understand

that Jane is in a pressure cooker and the soldiers are suppliers

of this steam, although she loses several pounds in this atmosphere,

we never quite see her sweat. She has already been through the

events of this era and is here to put the record straight.

This is a wiser Jane having fallen long ago.Our referee/ pastor

is reluctant to break up the rounds, leaving Jane on the ropes

throughout.

There are strong performances by everyone in this ensemble.

Anne Archer's performance is solid, reserved and delicate,

in that she does not mimic, impersonate or affect to be Jane

Fonda as much as personify a professional woman under pressure

to explain herself, her views and ultimately apologize for some

of the mistakes, missteps and misgivings that were used against

her then and for some, to this day. Which makes this play even

more needed and full of tension than it might otherwise be.

With two wars and a questionable policy on wire taps, harassment

and surveillance of private as well as public persons whom have

stood up against these wars : Tim Robbins for instance. This is

a piece which could mean quite a lot to us as Americans at this

time. One thinks of the Frost / Nixon work that was later made

into a film as an example. There is a lot to write about here as

this is an extremely well researched work of Theater. All puns

intended. War is often described as ' theater ' , a grossly

inaccurate understatement that has always seemed to me a weak

way of belittling the consequences.

To the soldiers credit, whom begin to slowly cool out by quoting

John Lennon and Shakespeare, ultimately they too see Jane's view

and although this is no love letter, it is a kind of reconciliation .

Somehow Jane is able to prove that she too was on the front lines,

stood up for something and indeed also payed a mean price for doing so.

We see as an audience that fighting for peace is just as brave, dangerous

and damaging as fighting for war. Who knew we all had so much in common?

Not every soldier agrees while Jane exclaims the famous Gandhi statement

that, " An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind ". Though, near the

end of this energetic and thoughtful, heartfelt play, the World War II

Veteran, played here by Terrence Beasor makes the definitive tough guy

statement which sums up their view of Jane after this tumultuous meeting,

" Jane, You've got some balls , Lady ". After viewing this work of finely

crafted Theater, we agree whole heartedly. The final line of any play has

always interested me, in this case, it says it all : " We all just moved on ".

Spending 600 Billion Dollars on a war only to ' move on ' is a tragedy.

It is a good thing that Terry Jastrow, his cast and crew as well as the

brave programmers at Edgemar Center for the Arts, including Michelle Danner,

their Artistic Director have not moved on. This is a great look back at a

controversial era that to this day haunts us. We highly suggest this play

which runs a limited engagement throughout November and early December of

this year. Anne Archer has been nominated for an Academy Award and Terry

Jastrow has received seven Emmy Awards. James Giordano gives an especially

jolted performance as one of the six soldiers as does Don Swayze whose rage

and frustration eventually flow into something new. Chris Stone has designed

an inspired set that is symbolic of the very war machine we all live in to

this very day.

Review by Joshua TRILIEGI for BUREAU of ARTS and CULTURE

All Rights Reserved International Intellectual Copyrights Apply 
Los Angeles CALIF USA

Garbo' s Cuban Lover

A Play at Macha Theater

www.machatheatre.org

Two words : Girl Power. When you think of a play called,

" Garbo' s Cuban Lover ", what comes to mind ? Well, what

comes to my mind is a kind of Che Guevera sort of character.

A strong male latin lover type, unshaven, outspoken, fiery,

bold. Ok, all the signs were there. The theater is called

Macha, as opposed to Macho.It is located in the very tony

section of West Hollywood. Uh, get where this is headed ?

If so, your sharper than me. I was surprised to discover

that Garbo' s Cuban lover, was a woman . Not necessarily

in real life, per se, for this play is a fictionalized

version imagined by the star, writer, co - director, the

theaters owner and producer of the play : Odalys Nanin.

Ms. Nanin has pieced together a kind of campy, bio romp,

with broad humor and the occasional film fact, address,

contract detail, hollywood gossip column and more than

anything a fun evening that flips the expectation of

mainstream audiences & film fans.The humor is not as

broad as say, " Women behind Bars " , which we caught

some years ago at The Roxy with Sally Kellerman in the

lead. Those familiar with Girl Theatre such as mainstays

like, " Last Summer at Blue Fish Cove " will enjoy this

show immensely.

Its bio - lite, relying mostly on the love story aspects,

the dynamics between the title character Mercedes de Acosta,

whom was a writer and poet contracted by MGM during the

golden years of Hollywood. Her friendships included Greta

Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Isadora Duncan & Pola Negri . In

this play, Nanin focuses on Greta Garbo & Marlene Dietrich

as well as the challenges of women whom were proud to be out

in the open, and those whom preferred to stay, uhm, inside.

Hollywood's 1930's sex secrets may seem old hat for today's

audiences, so Nanin and her cast take an approach that is almost

musical, when it comes to tone. One is expecting the cast to

step up and belt a tune or two. The shows unequivocal star is

Lina Hall as Garbo, whose stillness, dry humor and deadpan

deliveries make the most of each moment. Lina's reserve, focus

and other worldly energy put her in a category which definitely

takes you somewhere. There is a very clear meditative quality to

some actors and actresses that will transport you outside of the

theater and into the very place they are ' thinking about ' & we

go there with them. The look in the eyes tells us that we are not

sitting in a room in West Hollywood on a saturday night, but are

on an island with Garbo in another time and place. Hall does this

in spades and we too fall in love with her & Garbo.

The supporting cast includes Lisa Merkin whom finds many nice

moments as the consiglieri to Lina Hall's Garbo and ultimately

nemisis to Odalys Nanin' s Mercedes de Acosta whom dons the

famous tuxedo that Marlene Dietrich was famous for wearing

throughout hollywood during those golden years. John Nagle

brings a bold verve and satirical tone to the male characters

in the play which include Thalberg and other Hollywood types

within the genre's notions of the Hollywood Studios to this day.

Erin Holt plays a muse-like pixie and confidant to the title

character, with a kind of tinkerbell energy. She strings the

scenes and lighter tones together with a fun and outright sexually

liberated aspect. Adding an element of whimsy, a kind of living

female version of an Oscar statue.Elusive, flighty, ephemeral and

although she is playing Isadora Duncan here, a muse is more like it.

The politics of Love, Girls and Old Hollywood mix to show the

struggles of a Cuban female writer whom was talented, charismatic

and a bit of an innocent and small fish in a very small pond surrounded

by rather big fish. Laura Butler, co - director and cheerleader of sorts

to this small but mighty Theater obviously cares deeply about her cast

and there is a strong sense of unity because of her. Shon LeBlanc does

an outstanding job with costumes. This is a 10th Anniversary reprise of

the play which runs through till October 30th, 2011 & Travels to London

England in the Spring of 2012.

Roger Guenveur Smith & Marc Anthony Thompson

TWENTY 20 : A Multi Media Performance Presentation

The HAMMER Museum

presented in conjunction with Now Dig This!

Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980

A Pacific Standard Time Participant

Within minutes of entering the stage, Mr Smith utters the phrase,

" The future is now, and it is odd ". Anyone whose been aware of

politics, film, art or just life in America lately, would have to agree.

Roger Guenveur Smith and Marc Anthony Thompson have been

making groundbreaking Theatrical Presentations for Twenty Years.

The works have been engaging, personal, transformative and mono a

mono, in that Mr Smith lays out the performance alone while Mr Thompson

throws down the audio. Thompson other collaborators include Phillip Glass.

Most famously they collaborated on A Huey P. Newton Story which won an

Obie Award & later adapted for the screen by Smith & directed by Spike

Lee , shown on PBS and is available on Netflix. Last year they unveiled

The Watts Tower Project here at The Hammer and it was one of the tightest

and transfixing performances of the year. A personal look at The Watts

Towers through the eyes and ears of Mr Smith's own history here in L.A.

Twenty 20 is a different type of work altogether, so comparisons wont

really help describe it. Though, we could say that the Watts Tower piece

is a kind of Love song played by John Coltrane, whereas Twenty 20 is more

of a working out type of Solo by Ornette Coleman, a difficult piece and

challenging work that addresses the hurt, the pain, the frustration of

images used against the black community. The work is meant to decipher

what has happened to, around and from within the black Los Angeles based

experience from 1960 to 1980, as a kind of companion piece to the exhibition

currently at the Hammer Museum through to January 8, 2012.

We see no pictures of Malcolm or Martin. But the feeling of loss is everywhere.

There is a hip, Shakespeare - Narrator - like quality to Mr Smiths performance

here. A slow and methodical pace that eases us into his world, before entirely

blasting us. In Gil Scott Heron's song, " The Revolution will not be televised " ,

there is a lyric that says, " We will see no pictures of pigs shooting down

brothers in the instant replay .. " or something to that effect. Well, this piece

could be called, " The Revolution will be televised ", as Mr Smith relies heavily,

more than usual, on video imagery, mostly culled from media : Television Shows,

News Reports,Surveillance Video & Sit coms. As if to say , this is what you

think of us, well this aint whom we are M*ther F*ckers . Its a serious work that

had me in tears mid way.

The sight of slave ship schematics, repetitive word dynamics, distorted images

of a beautiful culture misinterpreted by a white west coast media for so many

years has led to some serious blasphemizing (new word) of that beauty ever since

this whole experience began. The video we see is purposely distorted, Soul Train

dancers twist into globs of motion, images of smiling TV characters that once made

us laugh with lines like," What You Talkin' bout Willis ?" or that famous catch

phrase " Dyyyyynnnnooooooomiiite ! " Thompson and Smith are giving us a chance

to revision what it was like for the black community in Los Angeles to be black

and deal with 1960 - 1980. Yes, there were some advances as the lady with the

questions after the performance exclaimed. But this is not a celebration of all

things black, per se, this is a chance for whitey , ( me and some of you, too)

to feel what it would be like to deal with this period. One senses that this

piece, like a Classical Composer or Architect or Oil Painter is a intermediary

step toward several new works that will bloom into major works for both Mr Smith

& Mr Thompson. The drawings and sketchbooks that lead to a whole other period,

the sonata that leads to the fifth symphony or the house that leads to the castle.

If Jackie Robinson ran it home after every single hit, would we still be watching ?

This is like a complicated sculptural painting of the American Flag by Thornton Dial.

These are artists and Twenty 20 is their,'Hardcore' Rap, if you will. This is

their NWA as Mr Smith hints at in the opening monologue. It was an entirely

sobering work, unlike some of the intoxicating pieces like Watts Tower, Huey P.

Newton & others. Breaking expectation, shocking your audience, startling tradition,

is the artists role. Especially here at the Hammer, which prides itself on cutting

edge programming, thoughtful survey and groundbreaking works of art that make us

think about and see life in a new and interesting way. Uh, mission accomplished.

That is not to say that Twenty 20 was humorless or tragic, the whole first section

was laced with that special blend of comedy Mr Smith is famous for. Audience

members could be heard laughing up a storm at many of the in jokes and stylistic

radio DJ like personalities that Mr Smith personified in this deep and in your

face experimental work, but when the jokes stopped flowing and the imagery switched

to show us another side, the audience was hushed and Roger had us on the ground

arms above our head, sirens roaring and lights flashing, 'you are under arrest'.

This was more of an education than an entertainment or what do they say ?

Edutainment. Another new word. Who says we cant make up new words ? We just did.

We can safely say that the spirit of folks like Gil Scott Heron, Huey, and the

edgier of the African American side of Art, Music and Politics were smiling in

on this one. As for the kind lady whom came to see the celebration of these years,

well, excuse me for quoting the man in the lobby after the gig, and he was quoting

the late great blacklisted singer and activist, Nina Simone ,

" Every body knows about Mississippi , God Damn ". Its a song lyric people,

just a song. But one that changed the way I think of things the first time I

heard it. Twenty 20 just did the same. That is what effective performance does.

Changes you plenty.

LASTAGEALLIANCE.COM        GEFFENPLAYHOUSE.COM       LAHTF.ORG

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ABOUT  THE  BUREAU  OF  ARTS  AND  CULTURE  MAGAZINE: 

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We were invited to Cumulus Radio's Commercial Rock Formatted KLOS 95.5 FM [ Bureau mentioned on air] to consider an affiliation.  We recently interviewed Miles Perlich of KJAZZ 88.1 FM and we were given tickets to Classical Music concerts by K-MOZART Radio & we invited a guest reviewer to attend. The BUREAU of Arts and Culture Magazine will continue to create a lasting relationship with the Art Institutes, Media & Schools that drive the Arts in America. We distributed Paper Editions to OTIS Art School & The Campus at USC to support alignments with faculty, staff & students who will become future entrepreneurs & participants in the Arts. Our upcoming interview with Barbara Morrison and her connection with UCLA Jazz music department with Herbie Hancock & The Thelonius Monk Institute is solid.We delivered the first edition of the magazines to: Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Palos Verdes, West Hollywood, Los Feliz, Malibu and The beach communities: Hermosa, Redondo & Manhattan beaches. We received financial support from stakeholders in the arts & culture communities by creating a dialog about the arts, reviewing their art exhibitions, theater plays & films. Art Galleries from Culver City to Bergamot Station to Glendale approved of and supported Edition One. Now we have an online READERSHIP that grows exponentially.BUREAU sites in cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, New York City and very soon Seattle, allow for anyone, anywhere, to see what is going on in the arts in that particular city. Which we feel will allow for us to apply for support, distribution and grants within those particular cities and for local businesses to buy ads. We add new cities quite often and create a lasting relationship with the established Arts Foundations in ART, MUSIC, THEATER. Which usually includes Classical music, Art Galleries, live Theater and Film. We added Surfing , Skateboarding and Biking to get the interest of a younger readership and indeed it worked. We have also celebrated those subjects with our fundraisers, selling artworks in relation to Biking & Skatng. We partnered with local & national businesses that assisted & we provided logo affiliation & coverage on the web: Chrome Bags, Jarrittos, LA Skate, DTLA Bikes and The Los Angeles Bikers coalition, to name a few. Older Established Artists from diverse cultures also participate in the BUREAU of Arts and Culture Exhibitions and Interviews. We brought together Native American, African American, Chinese American, Armenian American and Mexican American elder artists in a single exhibition: a financial as well as critical success with "Gathering The Tribes: Part One". We hand delivered the first paper Edition throughout Southern California and select neighborhoods in San Francisco. We introduced the magazine & created Popular Cultural Sites in : Los Angeles  Bay Area   San Diego  Santa Barbara  New York City  The Literary Site We are an official media Sponsor for L A Art Fair & PHOTO LA Photography Fair. We extensively cover and or interview participating galleries at Art Fairs such as, Platform LA, Pulse LA, Untitled Art, Art Basel Miami, Art Miami, Miami Project, The LA  Art Book Fair. We provide an extensive overview, Audio walk throughs, visual presentations with 100+ images per on-line feature.

bureau of arts and culture contributing photographers: 

norman seef, melissa ann pinney, kwame brathwaite, art shay, laura stevens, craig reilly, walter rothwell, sandy skoglund, rich helmer, stephen sommerstein, herb ritts, jack english, alex harris, gered mankowitz, bohnchang koo, natsumi hayashi, raymond depardon, t. enami, dennis stock, dina litovsky, guillermo cervera, moises saman, cathleen naundorf, terry richardson, phil stern, dennis morris, henry diltz, steve schapiro, yousuf karsh, ellen von unwerth, william claxton, robin holland, andrew moore, james gabbard, mary ellen mark, john robert rowlands, brian duffy, robert frank, jon lewis, john weston, sven hans, david levinthal, joshua white, brian forrest, lorna stovall, elliott erwitt, rene burri, susan wright, david leventhal, peter van agtmael, mathilde grafström , steve coleman

bureau of arts and culture contributing guest artists:  

erik olson, christopher stott, irby pace, max ginsburg, nathan walsh, jon swihart, f. scott hess, ho ryon lee, andy moses, kahn & selesnick, jules engel, patrick lee, david palumbo, tom gregg, tony fitzpatrick, gary lang, fabrizio casetta, dj hall, david febland, eric zener, seeroon yeretzian, dawn jackson, charles dickson, ernesto delaloza, diana wong, gustavo godoy, john weston, kris kuksi, bomonster, hiroshi ariyama, linda stark, kota ezawa, russell nachman, katsushika hokusai. xuan chen

bureau of arts and culture special thanks: 

seattle art museum, whitney museum, irvine welsh, andy warhol foundation, city lights bookstore, joan schulze, nymoma, da capo press, cantor arts center, stanford university, pace/macgill gallery, national gallery of art, georgia o'keefe museum of art, fresno art museum, fine arts center colorado springs, duke university, the broad la, phoenix art museum, wadsworth atheneum museum of art, art institute of chicago, museum of fine arts boston, crystal bridges, united artists, spot photo works, nasher sculpture center, d.g. wills bookstore, dallas museum of art, museum of fine art huston texas, gallerie urbane, mary boone gallery, pace gallery, asian art museum, magnum photo, chicago museum of contemporary art, fahey/ klein, tobey c. moss, sandra gehring, george billis, martin - gropius - bau berlin, san jose museum of art, first run features, downtown records, koplin del rio, robert berman, indie printing, american film institute, sfmoma, la art show, photo la, jewish contemporary museum, yale collection rare books, richard levy.

DIRECTIONS : Enclosed find A Copy and or Internet Links to The FREE PDF DOWNLOAD of the  Electronic Interactive Version of BUREAU of Arts and Culture Magazine.  We suggest you view the pdf in the [ Two Page with Cover ] and [ Full Screen Mode ] Options which are Provided at the Top of your Menu Bar under the VIEW section. Simply choose Two Page Layout & Full Screen to enjoy. This  format  allows  for  The Magazine to be read as a Paper Edition. Displaying images and Text in Center-folds. When reading on a computer, utilize the Arrows on your keyboard to turn the pages. Be Sure To Download A High Resolution Version at  BUREAU of Arts And Culture's Official Magazine Website or any of Our Community Sites with Links Provided Below.

MUSIC 2016 Edition 

BUREAU  ICON Essay: HANK  WILLIAMS . Guest ARTIST INTERVIEW Realist Painter CHRISTOPHER STOTT . . PHOTO ESSAYS and ARTICLE BY THE INFAMOUS MR. ART SHAY . MATHEW BARNEY at MOCA LA  Plus BUREAU PROFILE : ANDREW HOLDER  . BUREAU  PHOTOGRAPHIC  INTERVIEW  with LAURA STEVENS in PARIS . BUREAU FILM : BLUE VELVET at THIRTY . ART of MILES DAVIS "The SHAMAN" . PRINCE TRIBUTE plus MUSIC INTERVIEW with Singer-Songwriter: JOSHUA TATE . SOUND ARTIST : CÉLESTE BOURSIER - MOUGENOT with CHRISTOPH COX . DESIGN: ITS ABOUT WALLPAPER .  COMEDY INTERVIEW with Andre HYLAND  . John DOE . Aimee MANN . Chris STAPLETON . BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL : KWAME BRATHWAITE'S New HARLEM RENAISSANCE . DANNY LYON at THE WHITNEY MUSEUM + R. CRUMB at SEATTLE MUSEUM . Reviews & New Online Articles All Year Round at The New BUREAU CITY SITES  RAP MUSIC'S : TUPAC and ICE CUBE with PHOTOGRAPHER Mr. Mike MILLER  . BUREAU TRIBUTE TO " LEGENDS OF THE FALL'S," WRITER: JIM HARRISON.  Download The FREE Edition in Hi Resolution .   

DOWNLOAD LINK:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wm68o9htu0o5a48/BUREAU%20MUSIC%20EDITION%202016%20%5B%20LIPS%20%5D.pdf?dl=0 

LITERARY 2016 Edition 

BUREAU   ICON Essay: John STEINBECK . NOVELIST IRVINE WELSH . BUREAU GUEST Visual Artist New YORK City PAINTER : Nathan WALSH . Cinema: AMERICAN Director Hal ASHBY & The CLASSIC FILM "BEING THERE".  ART Reviews: Emilie CLARK . Michael KAGAN + The Max GINSBURG LECTURE .  San FRANCISCO : Photographs  Roman VISHNIAC . Bill GRAHAM at The CJM  . The South West Photographic Essay Winner Rich HELMER Plus Diane ARBUS . NEW FICTION ENCORE: They CALL IT The CITY of ANGELS  Selected Chapters  . INTERVIEWS: Sandy SKOGLUND . Shaun HUSTON on Library  Comic BOOKS . MUSIC: The MALLETT Brothers Band . Kehinde WILEY in SEATTLE.  USA  Museums : Arizona . Oklahoma . San Francisco .  ART: John MELLENCAMP.  BOOKS : ALI & Malcolm X . SPRINGSTEEN . Literature by U.S. Military Vets  . The SEATTLE Photographic Essay . FIVE Best Bookstores in BERKELEY +LITERARY Events 2016  S. E.Hinton's The OUTSIDERS + WOMEN Writers RULE.  Reviews & New Online Articles All Year Round at The New BUREAU CITY SITES.  Download The FREE Edition in Hi Resolution  

Download LINK:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/jgyu3v7rc0mq5aj/BUREAU%20LIT%202016%20Kagan%20Cover.pdf?dl=0  

SPRING 2016 Edition 

BUREAU ICON Essay: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN The BUREAU GUEST Artist from CANADA Painter and Sculptor Mr. Erik OLSON NEW Interviews + Photographic Essays with Three from The United Kingdom: Street Photographers Craig REILLY, Steve COLEMAN and Walter ROTHWELL. BUREAU Dance: Martha GRAHAM, Plus Mathilde GRAFSTROM : CENSORED German Muralist: Hendrik BEIKIRCH, The CLASSICAL Genius: Daniil TRIFONOV. BUREAU NEWS: David GANS on SUPREME COURT, Plus Mexico's DR.LAKRA Daniel GEORGAKAS on HOLLYWOOD BLACKLIST, The OSCARS and Spike LEE 2016, PHOTO ESSAYS: Stephen SOMERSTEIN at The FREEDOM MARCH of 1965, Alex HARRIS showcasing The Afro AMERICANS in North Carolina in The 1970s Artist Tristan EATON + The Post Modern Paintings Plus BUREAU Film: TRUMBO Reviews & New Online Articles All Year Round at The New BUREAU CITY SITES Across America an The World Through Internet. BUREAU is an Official MEDIA Partner for The ITALIAN Film Festival Download the following  Link to Hi ResOLUTION VERSION. 

Download LINK:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/za8cj8ux11fb80y/BUREAU%20SPRING%202016.pdf?dl=0  

FALL 2015 Edition 

BUREAU ICON Essay: BOB DYLAN. Interviews + Photographic Essays with Alex HARRIS on The INUIT, Kanayo ADIBE in Baltimore, Lynn SAVILLE in New York City, Mike MILLER on West Coast Style, Ryan SCHIERLING in AUSTIN and BUREAU  GUEST Artist: Melissa Ann PINNEY ART Interview with David BURKE in Bay Area.  Plus: Michelle HANDELMAN. New FICTION: THEY CALL IT THE CITY of ANGELS Part III  MUSIC Contributor: Sarah Rose PERRY on The Femme PUNK Scene. MUSIC Interview with JAHI. Plus US MUSEUMS: Detroit's 30 ARTISTS Exhibit, Milwaukee's Larry SULTAN, Photo LA, BOOK Stores Across US: BookPeople, Anderson's, City Lights, Book Reviews from STRAND NYC. Classical MUSIC and Rock & Roll: Not So Different After All.  Elliott  Landy and The BAND.  Edward  Hopper at The Cantor. All This and More Plus BUREAU On Line Links to The ART Fairs in MIAMI 2015 with Exclusive Audio Interviews, Reviews & New Online Articles All Year Round at The New BUREAU CITY SITES Across America an The World Through Internet. BUREAU is MEDIA Partner for PHOTO LA . + MORE.  

Download LINK:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/jam8st4tj03z65e/The%20NEW%20FALL%202015%20BUREAU%20MAGAZINE%20.pdf?dl=0