San Juan Bautista
– A local director, playwright and theatrical institution is
getting nationwide recognition for his contribution to American
theater.
San Juan Bautista – A local director, playwright and theatrical institution is getting nationwide recognition for his contribution to American theater.
Luis Valdez, founder and artistic director of El Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista, will be inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. The peer-nominated organization recognizes distinguished service to the theater profession.
“To be inducted, it’s a tremendous honor,” said Valdez, a Bay Area native who lives in San Juan Bautista. “It’s a point of honor for me – even though we continue to work in a rural area rather than give into the temptation to move to Los Angeles, to San Francisco – to get the honor.”
There are currently just 124 members of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. Their ranks include directors, producers, playwrights, designers and educators recognized for their work in the theater arts. Among the members are playwright Edward Albee and Broadway director Jack O’Brien.
Valdez, 66, has lived and worked in San Juan Bautista for more than 35 years. He founded El Teatro Campesino, which means “the farmworkers’ theater,” in 1965. He said he chose to keep the theater in San Juan Bautista in order to stay true to the art and to remain a theater of the farmworker.
“I love the fact that we can do things in San Juan Bautista and it still resonates at a national level,” Valdez said of his award.
He said he feels very linked to San Juan Bautista and the San Benito County community, which he feels is one of the most beautiful areas in the world.
Although Valdez calls San Juan Bautista his home, his career has taken him all over the world.
Valdez has had what he calls a “career of firsts.” His play “Zoot Suit” was the first play written by a Chicano to be produced on Broadway. His popular movie “La Bamba,” about the life of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll star Ritchie Valens, was the first film produced by a major motion picture company that was written and directed by a Chicano.
Valdez has received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of the Arts from the White House.
In spite of all these theatrical honors, he says his greatest accomplishment has been his three sons.
“I have to stress the importance of family in my life. I’m proudest of my family. I consider myself to be quite blessed in that regard,” Valdez said. All three sons, who are now in their late 20s and early 30s, are involved in the arts. Valdez’s middle son, Kinan, works with him at El Teatro Campesino.
Like his sons, Valdez got his start in theater at a young age. His parents were both migrant workers, and he lived for a month in the small town of Stratford, Calif., because his parents’ truck had broken down.
While there, Valdez attended school for a short period of time. His first-grade class was putting on a school play and Valdez auditioned for the part of a monkey. He won the role, which came complete with a papier-mâche monkey mask.
He loved the introduction to theater, but a few days before the play was supposed to be presented, Valdez’s family was evicted from the labor camp where they were staying and forced to move. He was crushed that he could not be in the play.
“What that left was a big hole in my soul. So for the past 50 years I have been filling that hole with theater and the arts,” Valdez said.
Valdez says it is very important to stay in touch with his migrant roots and not deny his past.
“What started as a negative – I was a Mexican migrant farmworker traveling around California – turned into the biggest positive of them all, because I was able to build the farmworkers’ theater,” Valdez said.
This devotion to a cause has garnered him respect, not only from his peers on the national level, but also from those who work with him at El Teatro Campesino.
“We are all very aware of what a great man he is, and what his contributions are,” said Stephanie Woehrmann, who has worked doing publicity and as a musician with the company since 2004. “The thing that is so wonderful about Luis is he’s come from very humble beginnings, and he’s accomplished great, great things, but he’s still humble. He inspires people, like myself, to go out there and make a change.”
Inspiring people to make change has been one Valdez’s main goals in theater. Valdez believes strongly in art with a message, most recently producing a play for the Monterey Bay Aquarium about the dangers of pollution.
Valdez does not feel as though his work in San Benito County is finished.
“We love this community,” Valdez said. “It’s a struggle to be here, but we love that struggle. We plan to continue to evolve here.”
Valdez will be inducted into the College of the Fellows of the American Theatre on April 22 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Alice Joy covers education for the Free Lance. You can reach her at aj**@fr***********.com or at (831) 637-5566 ext. 336.
