Tag Archives: New Carpa Theater

Immigration-related issues are getting plenty of national attention these days, thanks to President Obama’s recent announcement about immigrants brought to America as children — and anticipation of the Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling on SB 1070.

Last night, more than 3,000 people gathered at the “Tent City” jail in Phoenix to shine a light on alleged civil rights abuses. Arizona playwright James E. Garcia brings both a reporter’s eye and a playwright’s hand to such things.

Garcia is artistic director for New Carpa Theater Company, which performed several short plays with social justice themes Friday night as part of a community gathering focused on immigrant rights.

Nearly three decades ago, Garcia was a journalist working for The Journal Gazette in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. ”At some point,” he recalls, “I decided I could do novels and creative writing.”

Detail of artwork on the exterior of Firehouse in Phoenix

His first foray into playwriting came around “the late ’80s or early 90′s,” when a woman whose best friend had died of AIDS asked Garcia to help her “present his story on stage.” Garcia wrote a monologue, and performed the role of the young man from Austin, Texas in the piece titled “Ray.”

But then, says Garcia, “I began writing a lot of bad plays.” For a couple of years, he wrote five or six plays a year — some dramas, some comedies. Garcia admits he did “no real study of it,” but somehow got the invite to produce a statewide theater festival in Texas.

Still, Garcia grew “too busy with journalism” after landing a foreign correspondent gig with a newspaper that charged him with reporting out of Mexico City. His next job was reporting for AOL.

One day Garcia got a fax from Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix, which was “soliciting new plays” for the launch of a “Lunchtime Theater” program. Soon he was meeting with Judy Rollings and moving forward with a new work called “American Latino Redux,” a comedic exploration of Latino identity.

Nowadays he’s working to raise money to present a full-length one act called “The Mighty Vandals,” about an almost exclusively Hispanic basketball team in Miami, Arizona that broke nine state records during 1951 — an era plagued by racial segregation.

Garcia notes that as a journalist he took the role of being “a voice for the voiceless” very seriously. “I tended to gravitate towards communities of color,” says Garcia. “And I wrote stories about these communities.”

Through his playwriting, Garcia aims to “speak the issues of our time and the conditions we live in.” Civil rights. Equality. How people are treated. They’re all on Garcia’s radar. “We’re in an era where human rights are threatened in the United States of all places,” reflects Garcia.

“The arts,” he adds, “is one of many areas in which people have to make a statement.” Garcia’s work, he says, “is no more or less important than what others do in social justice.” It’s all “part of a cumulative resistance against repressive ideas.”

Now an accomplished playwright, Garcia admits to making some mistakes during early playwriting days — including “not studying the craft of it enough.” Garcia likens writing to using computers or playing violin. “Once you master the craft, it gets easier.”

Garcia urges new playwrights to “watch and read plays, and take notes.” Also to “write and write,” then “test pieces around the table with ten friends.” Read excerpts up on stage, suggests Garcia, then “listen to critiques with an open mind.”

His favorite playwrights include Edward Albee, Jose Cruz Gonzales and others with “a social justice perspective.” Garcia loves “a few” Shakespeare pieces, noting that it’s “very hit and miss with Shakespeare.”

“It’s not culturally where I come from,” reflects Garcia. “The world, including theater, should not be so Eurocentric.” He can “envision a contemporary Hamlet adaptation with a Hispanic family” — and notes that “my king would be the government.”

“There is no such thing as art for art’s sake,” says Garcia. “It’s always a social act. You don’t just do it for yourself.”

– Lynn

Note: Click here to find The Firehouse Gallery in Phoenix, where I spotted the artwork featured in this post, on Facebook. It’s currently home to all sorts of art with a social justice theme (and is seeking an artist to join the collective).

Coming up: Teen photographer debuts work at Tempe gallery

Update: Turns out not all sports that begin with the letter “b” are the same – hence I’ve corrected this post to note that “The Mighty Vandals” is about a basketball, rather than baseball, team. Explains why dribbling never got me those home runs during P.E. class.