This collection includes one-act plays by the famous farmwork theater, El Teatro Campesino, and its director Luis Valdez; one of the first fully realized, full-length plays by Valdez alone; and an original narrative poem by Luis Valdez.
LUIS VALDEZ is acknowledged as the founder of modern Chicano theatre and film. He was born to migrant farm workers and spent his early life traveling and working in the fields. He eventually found himself at San Jose State College, where his play The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa was staged in 1964. He later joined the United Farm Workers and staged improvisational theatre with the help of union actors to further their causes. This work lead to the formation of his theater group, El Teatro Campesino, which produced most of Valdez’ early plays in both the US and Europe. His account of racism in 1940s Los Angeles, Zoot Suit (Arte Público Press, 1981), was released in 1982, and was the first play by a Mexican American to be performed on Broadway. His film “La Bamba” (1987), the tragic story of singer Ritchie Valens, proved wildly successful and launched the screen careers of Lou Diamond Philips and Esai Morales. He has also written another collection of plays, The Mummified Deer and Other Plays (Arte Público Press, 2005), and a compilation of his works, Luis Valdez – Early Works, was published by Arte Público Press in 1990. He is a faculty member and the founding director of the Teledramatic Arts and Technology Department at California State University, Monterey Bay. He continues to travel extensively while remaining true to his Chicano theatrical roots.
