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In an innovative and bold collaborative project with El Teatro Campesino, youth from throughout Monterey County perform in Luis Valdez‚ explosive play "Zoot Suit". In a combination of docudrama, myth, and musical, Valdez depicts the trial of the Sleepy Lagoon Murder and the related Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. The play brings to life the racially-charged trial, in which a group of pachucos, Mexican-American gang members, are charged and sentenced with the murder of another Mexican-American. With its Brechtian-style protest against social injustice and defamiliarization techniques, "Zoot Suit" opened in Los Angeles in 1978, setting a new standard for Chicano theater and Valdez was recognized as a leader in American drama.
Mr. Valdez will work with three separate sets of directors, choreographers, and leads drawn from the three major regions in Monterey County. This will include South County (King City, Soledad, Greenfield, and Gonzalez), North County (Salinas, Prunedale, and Castroville), and the Peninsula (Monterey, Carmel, Pacific Grove, Seaside, and Marina). The leads will perform in their respective regions, while the supporting cast will perform in all three of the venues.
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