Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
March 15, 2002

Political satire next theater workshop

by Debra Gibson
A veteran Latino political satirist will be at the helm when the ISU Theatre's World Theatre Workshop stages its annual performance later this month.

Los Vendidos is this year's selection for the student workshop. The students perform scripts that are "not in the traditional western European and American canon," said Jane Cox, stage director of ISU Theatre. The play is under the direction of Thomas Carrasco, a native of East Los Angeles.

Carrasco was tapped for the project as a result of his friendship with Jerry Garcia, history, and director of the university's Latino/a Studies Program. Carrasco is a member of Chicanos Secret Service, a Los Angeles-based political satire group that travels the country performing "intellectual comedy."

While a student at the University of California, Berkeley, Carrasco was a street performer, and eventually a member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe. For the past nine years, he also has directed four films and several multimedia political satire shows. This will be the sixth time Carrasco has directed Los Vendidos, his choice for the World Theatre Workshop.

"Los Vendidos is a political satire written in the 1970s," Carrasco said, "dealing with the buying and selling of different types of Mexicans. It's very funny, but also very moving, and makes people aware of the labor issues around us. It's a reminder that we need to respect the worker, the American who is working hard, no matter what color he or she is."

Los Vendidos will be performed at the Memorial Union Maintenance Shop at 7:30 p.m. on March 29 and 30, and April 5 and 6, and at 2 p.m. on March 31 and April 7. Tickets ($8 for adults, $7 for senior citizens and $4.50 for students and children) are available at the Iowa State Center ticket office, by calling 4-3347, or at the Maintenance Shop prior to the performance.