El Henry: Herbert Siguenza's Epic Chicano Version of Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV

I love to try to do what seem to be projects, said Sam Woodhouse, Artistic Director of San Diego Repertory Theatre and director of El Henry, as we sat in a large circle at the first-rehearsal meet and greet for cast, creative team and theatre staff on 22 May 2014. We all knew this project was unlike anything that had come before; there was excitement in the air as Sam Woodhouse and Michael Rosenberg (Managing Director at La Jolla Playhouse) described ideas and concepts and designers gave presentations. As the production's stage manager, I listened with a practical ear and wondered if all of the impossible ideas could really make it to the stage.In this first-time collaboration between La Jolla Playhouse and San Diego Rep, with a script by Herbert Siguenza, the production would include low-rider classic cars and motorcycles driving across the set, stick fights and knife fights, actors climbing up giant storage containers with the night sky above them, projections, original music, and enough characters for 22 actors (though we only had 15). The outdoor venue (SILO in Makers Quarter) was a relatively new event space which had never housed a theatrical production. How could we not be excited to make this happen? Our work was cut out for us.El Henry is set thirty years in the future, but the emphasis is on the parallels between Chicano culture and European royalty. Setting the play in the near future supports the (frighteningly realistic) idea that after an economic collapse, groups of people would migrate east and north, and the resulting chaos and loss of would enable overt political corruption and an emerging kingdom of the streets. Siguenza chose to set El Henry in a futuristic version of San Diego (renamed Aztlan City), complete with references to neighborhoods and surrounding towns and jokes that only locals would get. But the production did not feel like an in-joke, more like a love letter to America's Finest City with a dark comedic edge.Much of what Siguenza has done (with Culture Clash, the Chicano American performance troupe he co-founded, and beyond) is create art which tells stories from the Chicano perspective, a perspective rarely seen onstage but presents these stories to both Chicano spectators who can finally see their culture reflected and to those who are unfamiliar with Chicano history and experience. El Henry is no exception-Siguenza skillfully folded Chicano slang (Calo) and Spanish phrases in with modern and Shakespearean language, making the text come alive for any audience.El Henry takes place after a Mexican bank collapse causes Mexicans to flee north of the border. The gringos cannot take this and decide to flee east of the Rockies, taking everything of value (down to the plumbing) with them. What's left is a desolate desert where water is scarce and the corrupt, white-acting Hispanics in charge only look out for themselves unless they are bribed. The Chicanos and Mexicans are left to fend for themselves, dividing neighborhoods into kingdoms and forming alliances with other gangs. The bleak conditions are evident from the first scene: two street thugs forage for water and food while bemoaning the city's archaic systems. We're back to steam, coal and transistors. Yippee, says one, after finding and tossing an old iPhone 23 because it is now worthless gringo technology (unpub. playscript). The thugs happen upon a sleeping Fausto (Falstaff in the original play), who chases them away and becomes the narrator.El Hank (Henry IV), king of Barrio Eastcheap, is about to go to jail on a trumped-up charge. He can see that his territory will be taken from him while he is away, probably by rival El Tomas (Thomas Percy) and his bloodthirsty son El Bravo (Hotspur). He wishes his drunk, irresponsible son El Henry (Prince Hal) were around to look after things, but he is too busy palling around with Fausto and other malcontents at Chiqui's (Mistress Quickly's) Tavern. …

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