The Wizard of Aztlan

by chUSMA, Los Angeles

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The Wizard of Aztlan

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by: Roxanne Schroeder-Arce

 

The Wizard of Aztlan was devised and first performed by Chicanx Los Angeles based satire company, chUSMA, including artists Gustavo Chavez, Alberto Ibarra, and Marisol Torres.  chUSMA was a community-based organization that was formed in the late 1990s.

 

Later performed in in Imix Bookstore in Los Angeles in June 2001, The Wizard of Aztlan was then produced by Teatro Humanidad’s youth program, Texas Youthful Creations, in 2002. In 2003, it had a reading at Tia Chucha's Cafe Cultural and was LA Weekly’s “Pick of the Week.” It was performed at CSU Northridge in 2004. In 2005, it was performed at Azteca Theater in San Fernando for six sold out shows.

 

Offering a twist on the “classic” The Wizard of Oz story, Concencia is this bilingual adaptation’s Dorothy, with her side-kicks Tin Tin, Animo, and Lencho. The “good witch” Doña Cruz advises Concencia, “Follow the red road in front of you.  At the end of this road you will find Quetzalcoatl, in Aztlan, the lands of the north.” From start to finish, the play adapts character names, cultural references, geographical locations and language.

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DECEMBER 2022

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