Michael M. Chemers – författare

The Theatre of Luis Valdez focuses on the life and work of American playwright and director Luis Valdez, probably best known for his landmark 1979 play Zoot Suit – the first play by a Latinx playwright to appear on Broadway – and founder of El Teatro Campesino, the oldest surviving community theatre in the United States.

Built around first-hand discussions of Valdez’s work, this collection gives an in-depth understanding of where ‘the godfather of Chicano theatre’ fits in the grand scheme of American drama and performance. Collaborators Edward James Olmos and Alma Martinez talk about working with Valdez and El Teatro Campesino; scholar Leticia Garcia interviews Jorge Huerta, the leading authority on Chicanx and Latinx theatre on the impact of Valdez work; and Luis Valdez himself contributes a lecture on all aspects of his craft from political resistance and the migrant experience to actor training and dramatic form.

A concise and accessible study, 4x45 || Luis Valdez is the go-to resource for scholars, students and theatre practitioners looking for an introduction to this seminal figure in modern American performance.

The Theatre of Luis Valdez focuses on the life and work of American playwright and director Luis Valdez, probably best known for his landmark 1979 play Zoot Suit – the first play by a Latinx playwright to appear on Broadway – and founder of El Teatro Campesino, the oldest surviving community theatre in the United States.

Built around first-hand discussions of Valdez’s work, this collection gives an in-depth understanding of where ‘the godfather of Chicano theatre’ fits in the grand scheme of American drama and performance. Collaborators Edward James Olmos and Alma Martinez talk about working with Valdez and El Teatro Campesino; scholar Leticia Garcia interviews Jorge Huerta, the leading authority on Chicanx and Latinx theatre on the impact of Valdez work; and Luis Valdez himself contributes a lecture on all aspects of his craft from political resistance and the migrant experience to actor training and dramatic form.

A concise and accessible study, 4x45 || Luis Valdez is the go-to resource for scholars, students and theatre practitioners looking for an introduction to this seminal figure in modern American performance.

Bringing together international perspectives on the figure of the “monster” in performance, this edited collection builds on discussions in the fields of posthumanism, bioethics, and performance studies. The collection aims to redefine “monstrosity” to describe the cultural processes by which certain identities or bodies are configured to be threateningly deviant, whether by race, gender, sexuality, nationality, immigration status, or physical or psychological extraordinariness.

The book explores themes of race, white supremacy, and migration with the aim of investigating how the figure of the monster has been used to explore representations of race and identity. To these, we add discussions on gender, queer identities, and how the figure of the “monster” has been used to explore the gendered body to finally understand how monstrosity intersects with contemporary issues of technology and the natural world. Navigating the fields of disability studies, performance-centered monster studies, and representation in performance, editors Michael M. Chemers and Analola Santana have brought together perspectives on the figure of the “monster” from across a variety of fields that intersect with performance studies.

This book is essential reading for Theatre and Performance students of all levels as well as scholars. It will also be an enlightening text for those interested in monstrosity and Cultural Studies more broadly.