Bakersfield College Theater Program Presents Luiz Valdez - Early Works
Monday, April 24, 2023
Bakersfield College's Theater Program announced today the details of their final production for the Spring semester. BC Theatre Professor Kimberly Chin will direct BC students in Luis Valdez - Early Works, a collection of three stories by legendary playwright and father of the Chicano Theatre movement, Luis Valdez. By special arrangement with the author himself, Luis Valdez - Early Works will present three of Valdez's foundational plays that helped to launch his revolutionary theatre company, El Teatro Campesino; the three short plays are Las Dos Caras del Patroncito, Los Vendidos, and Bernabe. This unique presentation will be performed in the Black Box Theatre, part of the Edward Simonsen Performing Arts Center at Bakersfield College, on April 27, 28, & 29. Tickets are available on the Bakersfield College Performing Arts Tickets page.
"It's a great privilege for Bakersfield College's Performing Arts Department and Theatre program to celebrate Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino by performing their seminal works,” says Director Chin. “The cast and crew are enjoying getting to know all about Luis Valdez, the history of El Teatro Campesino and Chicano Theatre. They are excited to perform these profound and funny plays!”
Luis Valdez, the acclaimed writer of the wildly popular Zoot Suit and La Bamba, is nothing short of a living legend. By special arrangement with the author, BC Theatre presents a rare opportunity to experience some of Valdez's early works that helped birth the Chicano theatre movement right in our own backyard. These plays tell the stories of those mid-20th century migrant farm workers and their experiences working and living in California's central valley, using Valdez's signature satirical comedy to cut to the heart of important issues. Laying the groundwork for El Teatro Campesino, Valdez's still-active theatre company, these three stories are necessary elements of the history of our local region, not to mention hilarious and not-to-be-missed.
A full performance schedule is listed below. Tickets are available now at the Bakersfield College Performing Arts Tickets page, and are $5 for students, staff/faculty, seniors, and veterans, and $8 for general admission. Please note: this production employs the use of vulgarity, alcohol/drug use, sexual content, and violence. No one under 14 is permitted.
