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Presenting the work of 15 writers and performers, the Tenth Annual Palabra Artist Showcase, an evening of theater, music and dance, will be staged on Aug. 29-31 at El Teatro Campesino in San Juan Bautista.
With its deep list of creative minds, Palabra gives voice to a diverse range of veteran Teatro artists and emerging local talents.
“We never know what it’s going to look like until the week of the performances,” said Teatro Executive Director Christy Sandoval. “Being able to host all of these people in our little house in San Juan Bautista is very special.”
Palabra began in 2017 as a response to a series of Teatro workshops.
According to writer, performer and filmmaker Cristal Gonzalez-Avila, many of the artists involved expressed a need to have a place to present their work to the public.
“As artists,” she said, “We’re either performing, directing or supporting someone else’s work. Palabra has become a vehicle where the driver is the artist and the Teatro is the home that’s providing the space.”
The series was titled “Palabra,” which translates to “word in English,” she said, with the idea that they were bringing the words of local artists to life. The first year saw two shows staged, and there has been one each year since, including remote performances during the COVID pandemic.
Mauricio Sámano, known for his portrayal of Juan Diego in El Teatro’s production of “La Virgen del Tepeyac,” has participated in Palabra since its inception and been featured in eight of the 10 productions.
His first performances in Palabra were as an actor in pieces written by others. Four years ago, he debuted his first script, “Ilegal,” an account of his undocumented crossing of the U.S. border, with a woman portraying him in the piece.
“I simply wrote it,” he said. “I turned it into Christy, but I didn’t want to be in it. I wasn’t ready to do anything like that.”
Three years ago, he performed a monologue called “El Malo” (“The Bad Example”), which is based on his life with an alcoholic and abusive uncle. Sámano said that at the age of 10, he became his grandfather’s protector as things with his uncle got “ugly and violent.”
“I got reconnected to him later,” Samano said. “It brought back the resentment I carried for him. But it also got me to understand that he’s got his own traumatic experiences and life stories that I’m not aware of.”
This year, he is directing a staged reading of “Ilegal,” which has been rewritten as a play for three actors, including himself.
“The experience right now,” Samano said, “is getting braver in writing my own stuff and hopefully, in the near future, doing either a one-man show or a book of short stories. I think the magic is in creating different things and using them to tell different stories.”
With more than 25 years on the Teatro stage as an actor, Samano said that writing has offered a different kind of reward. He encourages others to take the leap to express their own creativity through a showcase like Palabra.
“I’ve been very surprised by how what I’ve written has touched people,” he said. “I spoke to people after the shows, and it’s significant to them. You never know who you’re going to touch, so if you have something to say, bring it.”
Mauricio Sámano. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Samantha Crystal. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Ray Rios and Leo Nuñez in “Gracias Hermano.” Photo by Robert Eliason. 
La Leyenda Del Colibri. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Paolo Sandoval Brennan. Photo by Robert Eliason. 
Samantha Crystal and Mauricio Sámano. Photo by Robert Eliason.
Samantha Crystal, who describes herself as a fiercely proud first-generation Mexican American, has performed at Palabra every year since she debuted in 2020 with two pieces: “Orientation” and “I’m a Mexican.”
She became involved in Palabra after seeing “La Cortina de la Lechuga,” a play written by Gonzalez-Avila. She said hearing her, after the performance, discussing her process had a significant impact, which led her to submit work for the production.
“I had never performed my work in a theater before,” Crystal said. “So that was a unique experience and very humbling and fruitful, within the historical component of El Teatro and the intimacy of this playhouse.”
Crystal will be performing “¿Cómo De Llamas?” (“What’s My Name?”), a monologue based on her tumultuous relationship with her biological father.
“It tells the story of me claiming a part of my identity,” she said. “I didn’t want my given name anymore. I picked out a name that I feel is more suitable for me. So, it’s the story of me coming to that conclusion.”
Crystal, who writes in English, Spanish and Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, said it’s a privilege to be able to perform in a theater production as known for diversity and inclusion as El Teatro Campesino.
“‘Luis Valdez was quoted as saying, ‘Community theater is at the forefront of democracy,’” she said. “This is a space where work like mine is celebrated, invited, and encouraged. There are very, very few places left where that’s happening.”
This year’s Palabra is the largest and most ambitious yet, according to Sandoval, as it’s evolving from a simple showcase into a greater event that has seen submissions from all over the country.
“We have been able to open it up to embrace so many people,:” she said. “It’s always a very unique experience to be able to bring these diverse art forms together.”
The writers and performers of Palabra
- Maximiliano (Max) Allende: “The Ones Who Carry” (short script)
- Rosanna Alvarez: “Entre Sombreros” (monologue)
- Rosa Angelica Aranda: “Una Luz En La Oscuridad” (song)
- Paolo Sandoval Brennan: “Mictlantecuhtli” (dance)
- Samantha Crystal: “¿Cómo De Llamas?” (monologue)
- Ofelia “Mexmama” Faz-Garza: “Love Bloomed” (poetry)
- Marvin Flores: “Massacre” & “Commencement Speech” (poetry)
- Michael Jasso: “Chrysanthemum” (poetry)
- Miguel Ángel López: “La Leyenda Del Colibri” (poetry)
- Maribel Martínez: “Post Post Pre Party Ritual” (monologue)
- Ivanna Rodriguez Ramirez: “Galletitas” & “Mi Lengua” (poetry)
- Romulo Resendiz: “Walk” (song)
- Alvaro Saar Rios: “Alien Menudo” (short play)
- Mauricio Sámano: “Ilegal” (monologue)
- Christopher D. Soriano-Palma: “Gracias, Hermano” (short play)
Tickets to the Palabra Artist Showcase are available through El Teatro Campesino’s website and Eventbrite. The shows begin at 8 p.m. on Aug. 29-30 and at 2 p.m. on Aug. 31. El Teatro Campesino is located at 705 4th Street in San Juan Bautista.
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