Theatrical Writings and Other Projects
I have done a lot of non-academic writing over the years, much of it related to my political concerns. I have worked as a professional playwright since the mid-1970s. I did a lot of this in the 1980s and early 1990s when I was quite disillusioned with academia. During that time I was involved with a group--Theater Adelante--that performed plays (in Spanish) on pesticides and related issues for migrant workers throughout the west coast. I also spent a lot of time playing the piano and writing songs for two cabaret groups in Oregon, "On the Edge" and "Live Matinee".
I have done a lot less of this in recent years since starting the Oregon Conflict Resolution Program, then splitting my time between Oregon and Oxford.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:
- “HOLY DIRT” (co-authored with Marcos Martinez) was runner up for the 2002 Imagin Award, Los Angeles, California.
- “THE BOX” (co-authored with Ernesto Ravetto) received runner-up award from Denver Theaterworks New Play Contest, 1987; it was a finalist, Inner City Cultural Center One Act Play Festival, 1988.
- I was named one of the Northwest’s top playwrights by the Portland Oregonian, 1991.
- “A LEGACY OF LOVE” (author) video for Lane County Relief Nursery and KEZI Television, was awarded the Oregon "Woody" award, best public interest video, 1992.
- I was a co-recipient of the “Grass Roots” Award by the National Funding Exchange for work with Teatro Nuestro, 1991,
- Composer and lyricist for title song in anti-chewing tobacco video, awarded best song, Houston Video Festival, 1987.
PRESS AND MEDIA:
- I was the subject of a feature story in People Magazine, October 1989.
- Stories about my work have appeared in over fifty newspapers and magazines, including Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Christian Science Monitor. Locally, I have been the subject of feature stories in the Eugene Register Guard, the Portland Oregonian, and the Eugene Weekly.
- Theater Adelante, which I co-founded, has been the subject of two masters theses.
- Stories about my work have appeared on National Public Radio and PBS ("California Working").
THEATER:
(This list only includes professional productions and not work done when I was a student.)
APPALACHIAN EBENEEZER (co-author with Randi Douglas and Linda Danielson) produced by Oregon Repertory Theater, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1987; Empty Space Theater, Seattle, 1978; Springfield (Oregon) High School, 1983; Santa Cruz Players, California, 1990; Arden Theater Company, Philadelphia, Penn., 1990; Las Cruces, New Mexico, December 1991; Artists Repertory Theater, Portland, Oregon, 2003; Red Octopus Theatre Co, Newport Performing Arts Center, 2007.
THE GHOST DANCE, produced by Oregon Repertory Theater, 1980.
THE CASE OF THE MISSING MESSIAH, produced by On the Edge in Eugene, Oregon 1983; Los Angeles, Meridian Theater Company, 1986; San Francisco, Asian American Theater, 1989.
THE GREEN WORLD, On the Edge Theater, produced in Eugene, Oregon 1986.
THE BOX (co-author with Ernesto Ravetto) produced by On the Edge Theater in Eugene, Oregon, and Interstate Firehouse Theater, Portland, Oregon, 1987; Inner City Cultural Center, Los Angeles, 1987; The Climate Theater, San Francisco, 1988; also presented in New York and Dartmouth, New Hampshire, York, 1994.
LA QUINCENERA (co-author) produced by Adelante/Teatro Nuestro, toured Oregon 1986-1987, toured California 1988 (over sixty performances, in both rural and urban areas). Also performed by Su Teatro, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Fall 1991.
LA QUINCENERA was videotaped by KQED, San Francisco, in 1989, shown on approximately 20 Public Broadcasting stations.
LA BODA, produced by Adelante/Teatro Nuestro, toured Oregon and California, Idaho, Colorado, and New Mexico, summers of 1989, 1990, 1991 (over eighty performances, in both rural and urban areas); also performed at El Teatro Campesino, San Juan Bautista, and Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, fall of 1989 and 1990.
EL MILAGRO DE TEPEYAC, presented at and by Willamette University Theater Department, November-December 1991.
NUESTRA CLASE, produced by the People's Portrait Project and Adelante\Teatro Nuestro, Ukiah, California (and toured 11 other sites, including Sacramento and San Raphael California, and Medford Oregon) July and August, 1992.
LA PERLA (co-author with Ernesto Ravetto), staged reading at Portland International Theater Festival, summer 1993; produced at Climate Theater as part of Solo Mio Festival, fall 1993; return engagement, and toured winter and spring 1994 to New York, Colorado, and San Diego California; performed at Portland International Theater Festival, summer 1994; performed at Hult Center for the Performing Arts, Eugene, Oregon, 1995.
QUIEN VIVE? (A Dramatization of John Reed's Insurgent Mexico), staged reading at Portland International Theater Festival, summer 1993; further readings at Portland Community College, spring 1994.
SEA STARS ON VACATION, education play written for the Monterey Bay Aquarium, toured Northern California, Summer 1993.
FOR A BETTER WORLD (DOS HISTORIAS), performed at Yerba Buena Center, San Francisco, February 1995; toured Bay Area and Northern California, 1995-1996.
THE ERA OF TIME, performed at the Portland International Theater Festival, Summer 1995, and the Solo Mia Festival, San Francisco, Fall 1995.
HOLY DIRT (co-author, Marcos Martinez), staged reading at Portland International Theater Festival, Summer 1996; staged reading sponsored by Oregon Humanities Center, Eugene, 1997.
HOLY DIRT performance history:
Old Town Temecula Theater, September 2006; Roxy Theatre, Prague, Czech Republic, April 2006; University of Southern California, February 2006;
California State University San Marcos, December 2005, January 2006; International University, Bremen, Germany, June 2005; La Costa Canyon High School, Encinitas, CA, January 2005; UC Santa Barbara Multicultural Center, October 28, 2004; El Centro Su Teatro, Denver, 2002; Oral History Association Conference, October 26, 2002; California State University, Monterey Bay, July 11, 2002; City Heights Library, Performance Annex, San Diego, CA March 2002; Kenai Players, Kenai, Alaska, January 2002; Carmel Performing Arts Festival, October 17, 18, and 20, 2001; University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, March 2001; California Center for the Arts, Escondido, CA November 2000; Harding Community Center, Carlsbad, CA September, 2000; South Broadway Cultural Center, Albuquerque, NM September 2000; Educational Testing Service, San Antonio, TX June 2000; Humboldt State University, Humboldt, CA March 2000; CSU Fresno, CSU Summer Arts Program July 5, 1999; Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire April 16, 1999; Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts April 18, 1999; California State University, Monterey Bay February 11, 1999; Arizona State University, Transhistoric Thresholds” Conference December 10, 1998; Teater Styr og Kaer (Husid), Copenhagen, Denmark Nov.10&11, 1998; Scenekunst Festival, Arhus, Denmark Nov. 6,7,8, 1998; Lancaster State Prison, Los Angeles County, October 1998; Su Teatro, Denver 1998; Leikarafelag Føroya (Gríma), Faroe Islands, Denmark 1998; Groningen, Holland—Romance Language Conference 1998; American Theater in Higher Education Conference, San Antonio 1998; Albuquerque Museum, NM 1998, Avo Playhouse, Vista, CA 1998; California Center for the Arts, Escondido, CA 1998; Oñate Center, Alcalde, NM, 1998; Taos Art Association, Taos New Mexico, 1998; Centro Cultural de la Raza, 1997.
“GREEN CHILE VIKING, reading at Willamette Rep Theater (Spring 2002), to be produced in San Diego.
SHOCK AND AWE: staged reading, Lord Leebrick Theater 2003, sponsored by Oregon Humanities Center; staged reading, Minneapolis Minn. 2004.
VIDEO, FILM:
THE CHIEF, screenplay; optioned 1982.
A LEGACY OF LOVE, video for Lane County Relief Nursery and KEZI Television, Eugene, Oregon 1991 (author).
THE BOX was optioned for film 1987-88.
EL DUENDE, video for California Rural Legal Assistance Corporation 1991 (author).
FACING DOWN DISCRIMINATION, educational video 1992 (author).
MUSIC:
Co-composer for "A Moment in New England", WGBH Boston Public Television 1972-1973.
Background instrumental music for videos "Company Town", 1979; and "Still a Cowboy", 982.
Composer and lyricist for title song for "You Can Count on Me", produced for Michigan Arts Council, 1988.
GRANTS:
The following includes grants which have supported the writing and/or productions of my work: National Endowment for the Arts; National Endowment for the Humanities; Oregon Arts Commission; California Arts Council; The Ruth Mott Foundation; The Public Welfare Foundation; The Vanguard Foundation; The Millbank Fund; Woody Guthrie Foundation; Harburg Fund; Eastman Fund; Zellerbach Foundation; Levinson Foundation; McKenzie River Gathering Foundation; James Irvine Foundation; A Territorial Resource; The Funding Exchange; Ralph Smith Foundation.