NEW PLAY ‘VALLEY OF THE HEART’ PUTS THE OTHER AMERICANS ON STAGE

REVIEW: VALLEY OF THE HEART

BY RYAN M. LUÉVANO

Proclaimed by president Barack Obama for “bringing Chicano culture to American drama”, playwright Luis Valdez’s (most notably known for Zoot Suit) latest play Valley of the Heart brings both Chicano and Japanese culture to the stage. Based on Valdez’s life experiences as a child growing up on farms in the Central Valley, the play tells what happened when the Japanese American farmers were sent to internment camps during WWII, then consequently forced to leave their land in the care of their Mexican American workers.

L-R: Lakin Valdez, Christy Sandoval, Moises Castro, Rose Portillo and Daniel Valdez. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

Woven into the fabric of this historical recollection is a love story between a workers son Mexican American Benjamin Montaño and landowner’s daughter Japanese American Thelma Yamaguchi. All of this combines to create a timely play that echoes the spirit of The Grapes of Wrath, but now highlights the experience of the other Americans, the immigrants who are  important to the intricate fabric that makes up this country, especially the state of California.

Valdez’s Valley of the Heart unfolds as a flash back told by the eldest son of the Montaño family Benjamin (Lakin Valdez). We see him as an old man in a wheelchair to start, then as he begins to recite the story of his family, and how he met his wife Thelma (Melanie Arii Mah) his story comes to life on stage.

L-R: Lakin Valdez, Joy Osmanski (background), Melanie Arii Mah, Justin Chien and Scott Keiji Takeda. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

Valdez’s swift exposition introduces the two families, showing us what breakfast looks like in each household. The stage design by John Lacovelli makes this distinction even clearer with his skeleton structure representation of two houses on either side of the stage. The use of what appear to be giant shoji screens that extend from floor to ceiling on stage also add to the atmosphere of the play, and are also used for vivid projections throughout. Imbedded in this production are strong influences of Kabuki theatre including short dance sections with traditional Japanese music and reminiscent staging devices. This is a visually stunning play that represents both cultures beautifully, a perfect fit for the Mark Taper stage.

While the play spends much of its time recounting historical events of the attack of Pearl Harbor and the politics of WWII, Valdez does take moments to point out that unfortunately history does repeat itself. Where hear this clearly in the words of Benjamin who says “Today they’re complaining about all the illegals and building jagged steel fences on the border to keep all the Mexicans out, but it’s too late. California is now half Latino and Asian. And there’s not a damn thing they can do about it.” And how many people can relate to Thelma’s feelings as an immigrant when she says, “Who would’ve thought my family would become victims of such hateful derision in the land of the free?”?

L-R: Daniel Valdez, Randall Nakano and Joy Osmanski. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

Although at times The Heart of the Valley feels like a history lesson, in the end, at the core of its story, and through the plight of its characters, the play proves to be so much more. It’s a relevant piece of theatre reminding us that we are all equal and connected, and when something threatens that bond we must stand together as one.