El Teatro Campesino, the theater group based in San Juan Bautista, has embraced a new cause this summer as it works with the Network for a Healthy California to promote healthy eating.
Kinan Valdez, of El Teatro, said the theater group was commissioned by a group called Taller Arte del Nuevo Amanecer (translated as “the workshop for the arts for a new dawn”) based in Sacramento to create a play that would appeal to both adults and children around the message of eating right and exercising.
“Keeping the fact that we have a long history with the Latino Community, speaking to rural people and educational theater targeting specific issues, we were excited about the opportunity to do something educational,” Valdez said.
Valdez and others from El Teatro worked closely with the Network for a Healthy California, also known as Champions for Change, to decide what messages they wanted to present as they created a one-hour variety show that is similar to the “Actos” shows that launched the company in 1965.
“We knew that we excel in that particular format so we thought of it instantaneously,” Valdez said. “There were three points they wanted us to address: Childhood obesity in the Latino community; address the promotion of healthy eating and active living with the adult population; and spreading the word on the CalFresh program in the midst of the economic downturn.”
Out of those topics, Valdez and others created a variety show called “Aventuras con Verduras (Adventures with Vegetables)” that includes songs, dances and skits that are geared toward the entire family. The show is in Spanish and English, but it is acted in such a way that those who are not bilingual can still understand the messages.
“The play is for the whole family,” said Lupe Covarrubias-Martinez, the Latino campaign coordinator for the Network for a Healthy California on the Central Coast. “It let’s parents know they need to be a role model for their children.”
The Network for a Healthy California is part of the California Department of Public Health and coordinates local, state and national partners to work together to improve the health status of low-income Californians through increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and daily physical activity.
The play was performed in Woodland, near Sacramento, and Salinas last year, with the group gathering feedback to tweak some of the pieces. This year the show has been performed in Salinas and Watsonville. The theater company will also travel to Oxnard and Parlier for two more free performances this season.
Valdez said the show is written in such a way that parts of it can be pulled out to present to a target audience. Working in conjunction with the Youth Alliance, they used one of the skits about a boy who avoids exercise and eats unhealthy foods for a theater program at San Juan and Aromas schools. The school students performed the roles of Chuy Chicharron, who wants to watch television and eat junk food, Chuy’s mother and a super hero who challenges him to get healthy.
“The style of the show is rooted in popular theater,” Valdez said. “It is a good performance style. The adults are amused by the children’s pieces as much as the youngsters are at the adult pieces. Maybe the youngsters didn’t get all the messages, but the humor is important.”
Members of El Teatro Campesino were again working on a collaboration with Network for a Healthy California this week when they filmed some scenes for an educational video around San Benito County. They shot some footage at Progresso’s Tamale Parlor in Hollister and others places around town.
“It is part of the Latino campaign as well, specifically for the Spanish-speaking population,” Valdez said. “Some people might see us on the streets over the next week.”
Local agencies that are interested in hosting or sponsoring a performance of all or part of the variety show “Aventuras con Verduras” may contact El Teatro Campesino at 623-2444.
