Premiere of 'Valor' Puts End to Myths

PHOENIX (By Kyle Lawson, Arizona Republic) March 15, 2006 — Two myths were put out of their misery Saturday at Gammage Auditorium.

One was the canard that local audiences aren't interested in new plays by Valley playwrights. The second was the theory that the Valley's Hispanic community doesn't support theater.

More than 1,500 people braved a cold, rainy night to give a standing ovation to James Garcia's Voices of Valor, an engrossing look at the way America treated its Hispanic veterans of World War II.

The play has problems - the framing is awkward and the second act is a bit long - but it's nothing that can't be fixed, or that six fine actors couldn't cure during Saturday's world premiere performance.

Garcia structured the work around interviews conducted by the U.S. Latino and Latina WWII Oral History Project at the University of Texas at Austin. From these accounts, he chose incidents that illustrated life for Hispanic vets before, during and after the war.

Their authenticity lent power to the words. America has no reason to be proud of its treatment of its Hispanic war veterans, and the play hammers home the message. But, in some strange way, the veterans' pride in being citizens and their willingness to die for their country sends the audience out of the theater feeling that, if given a chance, this country's ideals could still be its salvation.

Garcia had considerable help in telling his story from director Richard Trujillo and a cast that included Trujillo, Maria Amorocho, Bruno Cisneros, Lindsay Marlin, Marcos Najera and Marcelino Quinonez. Quetzal Guerrero's music, Richard Isackes' simple but effective set and Amarante Lucero and Anthony Runfola's lighting and video designs were other pluses.

The only real problem was that it was a one-night-only performance. Some local theater company should bring Garcia's play back for a longer run so that more people can hear these eloquent voices.