I just read ZOOT SUIT by Luis Valdez play and I LOVE IT! There’s just so many great things that I’ve learned from reading it.
SYNOPSIS
In Zoot Suit, Luis Valdez weaves a story involving the real-life events of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial — when a group of young Mexican-Americans were wrongfully charged with murder — and the Zoot Suit Riots. In the play, Henry Reyna (inspired by real-life defendant Henry Leyvas) is a pachuco gangster and his gang, who were unfairly prosecuted, are thrown in jail for a murder they did not commit. The play is set in the barrios of Los Angeles in the early 1940s against the backdrop of the Zoot Suit Riots and World War II.Taken from Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit_%28play%29
WHAT I’LL STEAL LEARN TO USE
OMG! I don’t even know where to begin…
– In wonderful surprise, well not maybe considering Valdez’s history with SFMT, that it felt “like” at Mime Troupe production. There were songs and music and dancing to totally bring to life the era that this production takes place in. If I was in the audience, I’d me immersed in the chicano flavor.
– There was a court scene where Della is explaining what happened that night at Sleepy Lagoon and it switches between scenes of her giving her testimony and the actual night that her and Henry were there. Visually amazing even though this was written on the page.
– Pachuco was the inner voice of Henry. He was also the narrator. In a way that I’ve never seen, he controlled the play. In Act 1, Scene 9, when the judge says, “The zoot haircuts will be retained…” and then Pachuco, “You hear that one, ese? Listen to it again.” (Snaps) The Judge repeats the line automatically. So cool!
– In the same way, he changes the end of Henry’s story 3 times.
– Like Equus, when there’s a scene where Alice writes the boys, she speaks what is in the letters, but also answers the letters as if they were having a conversation… through the letters.
– I really loved the Family aspect of the play.
