Yale Bulletin and Calendar

November 7, 2003|Volume 32, Number 10

Culture Clash -- featuring Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza -- will perform the next Yale Rep production, which they also created and wrote.

Yale Rep show explores collision
of politics and culture in America

Some of New Haven's "colorful" personalities will be brought to dramatic life in the Yale Repertory Theatre's next offering, an exploration of the nation's diverse peoples and histories called "Culture Clash in AmeriCCa."

Created, written and performed by the three members of Culture Clash -- Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza -- the production celebrates the cities and people that make up the United States. It will run Nov. 14-Dec. 6 at the Yale Rep, corner of Chapel and York streets.

"Culture Clash in AmeriCCa" fuses satire, shtick and sociology to dramatize what happens when culture and politics collide. Each of Culture Clash's members will play multiple characters, crossing racial, social and sexual boundaries in their innovative manner of storytelling.

The production will be directed by Tony Taccone, artistic director of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Culture Clash was founded on Cinco de Mayo, 1984 in San Francisco's Mission District. The Chicano/Latino performance troupe focuses on site-specific theater, weaving personal narratives culled from interviews into a dramatic tapestry. Theater companies from various U.S. cities have commissioned Culture Clash to create performance pieces specifically for their cities. The group uses performance collage to bring history, geography, "urban excavation" and storytelling together in a theater narrative through a Chicano point of view in what has been described as "reverse anthropology." For their productions blending sharp humor and social critique, Culture Clash has become the most prominent Chicano-Latino performance troupe in the country.

The troupe's theatrical works include "The Mission," "Bowl of Beings," "S.O.S. Comedy for These Urgent Times" (an examination of the Los Angeles uprising following the beating of Rodney King) and "Carpa Clash" (a tribute to United Farm Workers' president Cesar Chavez). The group was working on a performance piece about Washington, D.C. titled "Anthems: Culture Clash in the District" at the time of the terrorist attacks in the United States.

"One feels an authenticity about their performances: the context, the style of presentation, the guys themselves," writes Phillip Kan Gotanda in his introduction to "Culture Clash: Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy." "They are not six degrees away but right here, of the moment, inside the tube of contemporary, radicalized America."

Taccone has directed more than 26 plays for the Berkeley Rep, including "Surface Transit," "Cloud Nine," "Homebody/Kabul," "Culture Clash in AmeriCCa," "The Oresteia," "The Alchemist," "Pentecost," "Macbeth," "Slavs!," "Major Barbara" and "Waiting for Godot." He recently directed the world premiere of David Edgar's two-play cycle "Continental Divide" for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which opened at Berkeley Rep last year. Prior to joining the staff of the Berkeley Rep in 1988, he served as the artistic director of Eureka Theatre in San Francisco. He has also worked at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arizona Theatre Company, San Jose Rep and the Yale Rep. He co-directed the world premiere of "Angels in America" at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

The scenic and lighting designer for the production is Alexander V. Nichols, whose design works span from lighting and projections to scenery and costumes for dance, theater, opera and art installations. His recent collaborations include scenery and lighting for projections for "Visual Music" by the Kronos Quartet and exterior lighting of the Sentinel Building, director Francis Ford Coppola's headquarters in San Francisco.

Donna Marie, the costume designer for the Berkeley Rep, is the costume designer for "Culture Clash in AmeriCCa." In addition to designs for theater productions, her credits include costumes crafts for the Broadway productions of "Cats" and "Starlight Express," and she was the star dresser for Mary-Louise Parker at the Helen Hayes Theater. Her designs can also be seen in the films "Dr. Hugo," "Mars" and "The Android Walks."

Performances of "Culture Clash in AmeriCCa" are Tuesday-Saturday at 8 p.m., with matinees on Saturday at 2 p.m. There is a special Monday evening performance on Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. and a Wednesday matinee on Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. Special events include "Yale Night" on Friday, Nov. 14, which includes a pre-show discussion with members of the creative team as well as free pizza (courtesy of BAR) and soft drinks for students from area colleges and universities; opening night on Thursday, Nov. 20, with a celebration following the performance at an area restaurant; "Re-Play," a question-and-answer session with the cast and crew following the matinee performance on Saturday, Nov. 22; and a matinee for senior citizens on Wednesday, Dec. 3. The Rep will offer a sign-interpreted and audio-described performance on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 2 p.m.

Single tickets are $25-$40 and can be ordered by calling (203) 432-1234, in person at the Yale Rep box office at 1120 Chapel St., or online at www.yalerep.org. Senior, student and group rates are also available, as are subscription packages for the Rep's entire 2003-2004 season.

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