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Valley of the Heart comes to World Theater

Story of love and endurance staged Oct. 18 and 19

Valley of the Heart explores themes that are ever-present in California – immigration, racism, identity – and folds them into a love story and a history lesson.

Playwright Luis Valdez calls it a memory play. As in his own life, a Mexican American sharecropping family takes over a ranch whose Japanese American owners are interned during World War II. The ranch owner’s daughter and sharecropper’s son fall in love in the Valley of Heart’s Delight – now known as Silicon Valley – before Pearl Harbor.

When she becomes pregnant, they marry secretly, only to be separated when her family is sent to Heart Mountain and his family becomes caretakers of the ranch.

"It's a love story. It's a story of two families, it shows the impact of war," Valdez told the San Jose Mercury News. "But the main theme is that it's a story of the heart. Ultimately, all these social problems we have eventually get solved by the human heart."

Valley of the Heart will be performed by Valdez’s company, El Teatro Campesino, at Cal State Monterey Bay’s World Theater at 8 p.m. on Oct. 18 and at 2 p.m. on Oct. 19. The play comes to CSUMB after an eight-week run at El Teatro’s San Juan Bautista theater.

The change of venue to a larger space means the “relationship of the actor to the audience changes,” said Joe Cardinalli, artistic and executive director of the World Theater. “I’ve seen the play three times and each time, I find something new to reflect on.”

The production kicks off the celebration and commemoration of El Teatro’s 50th anniversary year.

“We are pleased to welcome director/playwright Luis Valdez back to the university where he was a founding faculty member,” Cardinalli said.

A special reception with the playwright and cast will be held at CSUMB’s Alumni and Visitors Center following the Sunday matinee. Tickets for the performance and reception are $50.

Ticket prices for Saturday’s show and for Sunday’s performance only are $40 premium, $29 general admission. Discounts are available for students, seniors and military members. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the box office at 582-4580. Driving directions and a campus map are available here.

Photo Back: Randall Nakano; left: Andres Ortiz; right, Melanie Mah Photo by Robert Eliason