Related Pieces
Piece Description
Teatro Americano, a community theater group in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, is a project of a non-profit organization that provides legal services to mostly Latino immigrants in the city and suburbs. This piece documents preparations for their first play, La Victima, which written by Chicano activists in the 1970s. La Victima explores the experiences of three generations of Mexican immigrants. This piece was originally part of the April 2005 edition of Fire on the Prairie, the monthly radio show sponsored by In These Times magazine (www.inthesetimes.com).
Broadcast History
A slightly different version of Teatro Americano was originally broadcast in Chicago on April 11, 2005 on WLUW and April 28, 2005 on WHPK. The piece was edited for use as part of a workshop on radio at the Allied Media Conference in Bowling Green, OH, in July 2005.
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Geo Beach
Posted on September 13, 2005 at 04:45 PM | Permalink
Review of Teatro Americano
Emily Udell's "Teatro Americano" has lots of good sound but lacks a coherent script. The intro, featuring the electronic jingle from an ice cream truck a propos of nothing, sends the listener's focus in an errant direction. The first 1:00 of ambling interview doesn't contribute to the vector of the story, which is in fact about the Chicano activist play "La Victima". Actualities are disjointed – players comment on their characters before any part of the plot is explicated.
Crisp sound, of which Udell has collected plenty, is crucial to making good radio. But, like cooking without a recipe, just throwing in fresh stuff and stirring does not a story make.
At 3:00 we get a forward promo for performances in April 2005 in Chicago, which dates and places the piece such that it cannot be rebroadcast in the current form.
"La Victima" sounds like a play listeners would like to hear more about. There are compelling elements here that, restructured with focus and with a broad audience in mind, can make a solid radio piece.