Review: Breaking the Silence of the South Texas Border: Teatro Chicano de Laredo
by Michael Meigs
"We're from the badlands," producing artistic director Carlos Nicolás Flores told us after company members had presented a fifteen-minute scene from Isaura and the Virgin. "I mean it." With a grim-faced apology he then put an image up on the screen. Taken from a distance -- across the border in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico -- it showed two lifeless bodies hanging from lamp posts, hands tied behind them. In contrast, he said, "Austin is the Paris of Texas! You have all the entertainment and theatre you could want. In Laredo our choices are limited. The two or three other companies produce mostly American mainstream fare. We are the only ones who produce original work about the border from a Mexican-American perspective."
Feeling proud of being a part of history in the making, we listened more intently to the story Flores had come all this way to tell.
The Austin Latino Theater Alliance had invited The Teatro Chicano de Laredo to participate in the Habla Teatro series ALTA offers for upcoming thespians in the Hispanic community. In the forum orchestrated by Anjanette Gautier and Karla Longnion, writers and producers, mostly international, give presentations and provide the public with samples of their work.
Last Saturday, March 29, the scene from the play, the talk and the images of the presentation gave us insight into a world very different from our own. The humanity of the work showed through and the underlying stories of conflict brought us into a new reality with a sense of urgency.
Flores told us of the Texas-Mexican border world of drug rings, violence, the traditional Hispano-American culture, and a silence so quiet the nopales in the desert could hear his cry for earnest ears and share the company's thirst for expression. Flores suggested that because of intimidation, repression and hopelessness, many topics worth talking about in a border town aren’t discussed publicly. Teatro Chicano of Laredo was founded to break that silence.
The Teatro Chicano of Laredo is on a mission both to bring the stories of Chicanos and Mexican-Americans to light and to bring about changes to improve the community's quality of life. Some in Laredo were initially uncomfortable with their use of the term 'Chicano'; despite the long history of the Chicano movement, there was a sense that the term was somehow derogatory.
"I have found an outlet," said Flores. a professor at Laredo Community College. A published author in his own right, he sees the theatre as a safe place for Chicanos to face the complexities of their surroundings and discuss them. Flores has edited and produced 25 works for the company. Plays with mature themes and adult issues are welcomed rather than frowned upon.
Isaura and The Virgin portrays the plight of a divorced Mexican-American woman struggling with the conflicting impulses of her sexuality and her faith. Playwright Luis E. Flores told us he got his inspiration from the Woody Allen film Alice, dealing with a wife, family, and the question of what a woman should be. The scene from the comedy featured the heroine's agitated confession to her best friend of a wild night of passion that was the culmination of her first date in years. It was played in English with some lines and exclamations in Spanish, in a style that recalled that of Austin's Teatro Vivo. The audience laughed and was fully engaged. It was well received, and the vision and evident camaraderie between playwright and producer resulted in an enjoyable and informative evening.
"It's important to understand why these things are happening, and why this is our reality," stated Flores during his PowerPoint presentation.
The Teatro Chicano de Laredo produces most of its work at the locale of the Laredo Little Theatre [LLT] with the sponsorship of resident theater director Diane Ramírez. LLT’s Hispanic offerings began in March 2004 with the one-man "Lorca" presented by Laredo native José Rubén de Léon. Between 2008 and 2013, it has presented 25 plays by members of Teatro Chicano de Laredo. Among these works have been "El Sombrero" about the Mexican-American inclination to prefer things Anglo and "The Canary in the Coal Mine" by Robert Gutiérrez. "Bridges," another play by Luis E. Flores, has a Faustian theme and features an emcee who embodies the negative qualities Chicanos dislike about themselves. Examples of other plays are "My Little Mexican" and "El Partido."
We at CTXLT look forward to seeing more from Teatro Chicano de Laredo and to a continuing relationship between Austin theatre and its colleagues on the South Texas border. Jess Helmke expects to cover Teatro Chicano's fall season for CTXLT.com.
To our visitors from Laredo: Hasta luego y que les vaya bien!
Isaura and the Virgin
by Luis E. Flores
Teatro Chicano de Laredo
October 17-19, 2013, 8pm
October 20, 2013, 3pm
General Admissions: $10
