El Teatro Campesino (1965-1975)

ES / EN 

Read the El Teatro Campesino (1965-1975) Catalogue here.

In 1965, El Teatro Campesino was founded in California on the picket lines of the Delano Grape Strike. At first operating as a cultural subdivision of the United Farm Workers, this impromptu troupe of agricultural laborers began performing their own critical actos (one-act plays) to regional migrant workers and their families on flatbed trucks, at public rallies, and in union halls. In pursuit of a revolutionary form of theater, they employed satire, humor, improvisation, and participation with limited financial resources and an aesthetic that reflected the sociopolitical urgency of the times.

This exhibition is the first to locate El Teatro Campesino within the context of contemporary art and the lineage of social practice. Acting from the position of an in-depth case study, this project examines the many contributions of the collective in their first decade of work through a series of thematic focuses, including the use of family structure, rascuache aesthetics, and radical forms of theater. Ultimately, the work of El Teatro is as much a response to the Chicano movement as it is to the ability of performance to catalyze empathy in the contemporary world.

El Teatro Campesino (1965-1975)

Additional support for El Teatro Campesino (1965-1975) is provided by Mary and Armando Duron. Special thanks to El Teatro Campesino, Southern California Library, Diane Rodriguez, Jorge Huerta, University of California, Santa Barbara, and The Los Angeles Theatre Center.