Built from the ground up: Pajaro Valley High students stage ‘Zoot Suit’ in DIY theater

Without a performing arts center, Pajaro Valley High School drama teacher Gabe Robledo has for years produced student dances and performances from the wrestling room, his classroom and the school gymnasium – as his drama teacher did when he was a student at the high school from 2006 to 2010. 

But now, in his 10th year of teaching, he and his students will perform a renowned Chicano play on a makeshift stage built in unused classrooms and with community support. They call it the black box.    

The play, “Zoot Suit,” was written by award-winning playwright Luis Valdez, who was born to migrant farmworkers in Delano. He founded El Teatro Campesino, a Chicano theater group that got its start creating and performing short skits on flatbed trucks and in union halls alongside the United Farm Workers union during the Delano Grape Strike in 1965. 

Robledo said he often thinks about a philosophy of the teatro, rasquachi, in his day-to-day work, but especially this year. 

“It means, pulled up by your bootstraps – making something out of nothing. We’ve been kind of building from the ground up this whole time,” he said. “This is the way to christen this space – this show.”

Pajaro Valley High School students will perform “Zoot Suit” on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and on Sunday at 3 p.m. Friday night’s show, which Valdez is scheduled to attend, is sold out. 

Set during the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943, “Zoot Suit” is based on true events and tells the story of Henry Reyna and the 38th Street Gang he leads in Los Angeles. Reyna and 22 members of the gang are accused and convicted of murdering a young Mexican American man. The zoot suit, characterized by oversized suits, saddle shoes and cross necklaces, was worn in the 1940s first by African Americans and later Mexican Americans and Filipino Americans. The attire is a symbol of pride and individuality, but also became a source of discrimination and ultimately of the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. 

Robledo said “Zoot Suit” is his favorite show of all time – he performed in the play when he was in high school and reads it every year with his students. Nearly 97% of Pajaro Valley High’s students are Latino.

“You can feel them identify with the struggle of it, the beauty of being Mexican, the difficulty of being Mexican, and all the chaos in between,” he said. “I think that’s why it means a lot, and also, zoot suits are so cool.” 

Julio Gonzalez, a 17-year-old senior performing the role of Henry Reyna, said learning about “Zoot Suit” and other Chicano works has had a big impact on him and how he sees himself.  

“I never really understood much of my culture … but once I found out about Chicano theater, I was like, ‘Wow, these people sound just like me,” he said. “It’s made me feel very, very empowered.” 

He said he feels prideful about being Chicano and rasquachi: “This is what I’m good at – Chicano theater.”

El Teatro Campesino, based in San Juan Bautista, is still operating and granted the rights of the play to Pajaro Valley High. The organization also provided the zoot suits that students are wearing in the play. Robledo organized a visit for the students to El Teatro Campesino earlier this month. 

Similar to Pajaro Valley High’s black box theater, Robledo said, El Teatro Campesino isn’t a traditional theater. It was a packing shed and warehouse that the organization converted into a theater. That makeshift theater was how he got his idea to build the school’s black box. 

“I’m way more comfortable in this space than I would be in a professional theater. Because this is malleable. It’s fresh,” he said. “There’s pluses and minuses to it, but it is a beautiful thing. I grew up around this.” 

Robledo literally grew up around El Teatro Campesino – it’s where his parents met. His dad joined the teatro as a musician in his late teens. So taking his students to visit the teatro performers was special to him. 

“It was really emotional for me to see them welcome my students and see pictures of my dad in black and white on the wall, and pictures of my mom and me as a little kid,” he said.  

Putting together the show and the theater has been a similarly communal experience. A friend who performed “Zoot Suit” with him in high school is co-directing. Robledo’s mom, Janet Johns, choreographed the show’s dancing. Robledo and teacher Rylan Shannon are performing. Robledo’s cousin built the backdrop for the stage. 

“That’s the thing that’s making this special,” he said. “It’s just a lot of people helping.” 

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.