It was fate that brought Edith Macias to Teatro Visión – a Chicanx, Latinx Teatro organization that has been in San José for more than three decades. Edith is the new Community Engagement and Marketing Manager at Teatro Visión who says it is one of their personal goals to engage East San José because of who lives here: Latinx, people of color, working class people. At the theater is where people of color need to be, they says to, “be observing these plays – their own narratives, giving feedback of their perspective of the narratives, having discussions about them and engaging as much as they can with them.
Teatro Visión has been here even before the tech boom! “It’s been here for a long time and it matters because of that – because it’s seen generations come and go and these are the people of San José. The folks who we always try to engage - the people who understand the experience because they lived it," Edith states with enthusiasm.
Teatro Visión puts on productions every season that tell the stories of different intersections of Latinidad – whether it be centering class, gender identity, ethnic identity or how all of them intersect.
The next production is called The Transition of Doodle Pequeño. It’s a play by Gabriel Jason Dean that centers on the topics of gender identity and expression in Latinx communities. Conversations that, Edith believes, “we steer away from in Latinx communities and these discussions do matter because LGBTQ+ youth exist in the Latinx community and they deserve to be protected, live and feel safe within these communities.”
According to Edith, theater is important because a lot of times we experience things, but we don’t think it’s important. We say, “así es la vida - this is life.” During Edith's time working with students at an East Side middle school with City Year the youth came to confide in Edith and they connect the student's difficult moments to the importance of seeing themselves reflected on the stage. One of their most impactful memories was with a young girl who was made fun of for playing soccer, but she knew she was a good player and was frustrated for being made fun of. Theater takes these experiences so you can see it in real life, adds Edith.
This is exactly what goes on with Doodle Pequeño. His friend Reno – decides that he likes to wear dresses. He gets bullied and they experience a lot of things together and because they’re friends they help each other through it.
Doodle Pequeño is for everyone! A family friendly production that should fill the theater with different generations. The play is not just tearing down the barriers between generations and the discomforts in speaking about these topics, says Edith. “We should engage in those conversations that matter for the survival of us - of our youth.”
The Transition of Doodle Pequeño runs from March 28-31st at the School of Arts and Culture at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose. It is performed in English with Spanish supertitles.
Teatro Visión continues to make theater accessible for all and features a choose your own price ticket, you can choose what you pay for the ticket from $10-$40. For tickets visit: https://www.teatrovision.org/doodle
For teachers:
To attend one of the two student matinees of ‘Doodle Pequeño’ – on March 28th and 29th at 11am, interested teachers please email [email protected] to reserve seats. Tickets are $7 for each student, staff, and parent chaperone.
Another opportunity offered to teachers is a post classroom discussion to follow up on the themes of the play. Edith will facilitate to give students an opportunity to talk about what can we do as citizens of San Jose to make sure that when talking about the issues that matter here, that we also keep in mind that identities are also different and how do we engage all identities and how do we make sure that people feel included in these conversations.
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