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April 1, 2003

Media Contact: Jan Jennings, (858) 822-1684

USCD PROFESSOR TO SPEAK ON COMEDY IN CHICANO THEATRE
IN FACULTY RESEARCH LECTURE APRIL 22 ON UCSD CAMPUS

Comedy in Chicano Theatre: Who’s Laughing Now? is the topic of a lecture to be presented April 22 by Jorge Huerta, Chancellor’s Associates Professor of Theatre at the University of California, San Diego. The event is free and open to the public.

The UCSD Division of the Academic Senate selected Huerta as the 2002 Faculty Research Lecture Award recipient. Huerta’s lecture will be at 4 p.m. in Garren Auditorium of the Basic Science Building at the UCSD School of Medicine.

“Jorge Huerta is one of the founding fathers of the field of research in Chicano theatre and is internationally recognized for the importance of his scholarly work in this new field,” says Walt Jones, chairman of the UCSD Department of Theatre and Dance, in nominating Huerta for the award. “Professor Huerta has made major artistic contributions to the practice of Chicano theatre as a director, as the founder of one of the first important Chicano theatre companies, and as an anthologist.”

Jones adds that Huerta is a “lively lecturer” who enjoys using “his theatrical skills” to reach his audience.

In his lecture, Huerta will trace the development of comedy in contemporary Chicano theatre.

“Chicanos have always found humor in their fractured, neo-colonial existence, making fun of themselves as well as ridiculing the invading Europeans’ customs, manners and ideas,” Huerta says. “The tensions created within and between these disparate communities have created anxieties that have fueled the comedy of the Chicanos for generations – indeed, before they were Chicanos.”

Huerta is the author of two books, Chicano Theatre: Themes and Forms (1982) and Chicano Drama: Performance, Society, and Myth (2001), and numerous articles and essays on Chicano theatre.

Jones says Huerta’s books and essays “repeatedly focus on history: the individuals or groups who use theatre to address the concerns of a particular historical moment in a complex community with its converging and diverging subgroups … continually making us aware of the very long threads connecting recent movements back through the inherited traditions.

“His work combines historical research with up-to-date knowledge of writing and performance today.”

Speaking on comedy in Chicano theatre is a natural for the artist/educator who says that “like any other marginalized group, Chicanos have employed humor in their theatre as a means of protection, as a weapon and as an educational tool.”

Huerta is a fellow in the College of Fellows of American Theatre and a member of the Executive Committee of the American Association for Theatre Research. He has edited two collections of Chicano plays; directed more than 60 plays for professional and university theatres; founded El Teatro de la Esperanza, one of the first two major Chicano theatres, and originated the Necessary Theatre series on UCSD television.

Huerta has received numerous grants and awards. These include a Golden Eagle Award from Nosotros, an organization of Hispanics in film and television in Hollywood, for his contributions to Chicano theatre; recognition as Distinguished Artist by the California State University system’s Distinguished Artist Forum, and selection as an honoree of the National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies.

Huerta holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State, Los Angeles, and received a Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara. He has been on the UCSD Department of Theatre and Dance faculty since 1975.