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Section H Austin American-Statesman Thursday, March 22, 1990 The wait is over. Poi Dog Pondering's major-label debut comes out Tuesday and It could set the tone for Austin's music scene in the '90s. Hispanic festival stages dramatic view of diverse culture By Michael Barnes Special to the American-Statesman Forget slogans like "Capital City" and "River City." Austin should bill itself as "City of Festivals." You can add Texas Hispanic Theatre Festival to the growing list of entertainment gatherings like Aqua Festival, South by Southwest and the Austin New Play Festival. Beginning Friday, seven theater groups from across Texas will pre- sent 11 pieces that reflect the diver- sity of the Hispanic experience. Each night this weekend, performers will fill the spacious galleries at Mexic-Arte museum with Spanish- language, English-language and bi- lingual plays. Special puppet and children's productions will be pre- sented Saturday afternoon. "For the first time, Hispanic groups from Dallas, Houston, Austin and the (Rio Grande) Valley will perform together," said festival spokesman Eduardo Vera. "Besides offering diverse performances, the festival will provide exposure for If you go... Texas Hispanic Theatre Festival When: Friday through Sunday Where: Mexic-Arte museum Tickets: $1 to $6, $15 pass Information: 480-9373 theater companies struggling in their own communities." Although San Antonio presented the National Hispanic Theatre Fes- tival last year (it's in New York this year), Austin will witness the first link-up of Texas performance groups. Austin's central location and large Hispanic community make it ideally suited for an annual event of this nature. And because Mexic-Arte is equally accessible to the Hispanic communi- ty and mainstream theatergoers, the festival should reach a wide range of spectators. "This festival can give Texans an idea of the contributions of Hispanic culture" said Cora Cardona of Tea- tro Dallas. "We love performing outside of Dallas and look forward to an annual event like this." Dallas, Houston and San Antonio each boast a continuing tradition of Hispanic theater complete with es- tablished resident companies. Al- though Austin's population is 20 percent Hispanic, no similar group has been able to establish a foothold here. Los Actores de Austin and Co- lores Theatre Collective have pro- duced a variety of events (such as last summer's I Too Speak of the Rose at Zachary Scott Theatre), but none have found a long-term audi- ence or permanent venue. Festival-planner Vera postulates that theater has not been as popular with Austin's Hispanic community because it is seen as elitist. "In the 1960s, Hispanic theater was issue-oriented and confined to the skit format. It dealt with civil rights and the plight of farm workers. But in the last two decades Texas Hispanic theater has matured a lot. The festival reflects a diversity of viewpoints; there is no one His- panic culture." While some of the festival offer- ings will revive a guerrilla-theater See Festival, H5 Staff photo by Lynne Dobson Los Actores de Austin will perform De Donde at the Texas Hispanic Theatre Festival, which features 7 groups from across the state presenting Spanish, English and bilingual plays. II A I U if P" aa v a
