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01/15/00 The Boys Are Back In Town Culture Clash Celebrates 15 years of nuttiness with "Anthology" at Rep by Victor Payan While no one really considers the Eighties to be the Decade of the Hispanic, the Nineties will surely go down in the annals as the Decade of Culture Clash. The socially-active Chicano theatre troupe, which is comprised of writer/performers Richard Montoya, Herbert Sigüenza and Ric Salinas, returns to the San Diego Repertory Theatre through Jan. 23 with an "Anthology" of pieces that span the length of their fifteen-year career. Over the course of this past decade and a half, Culture Clash has done much to secure the presence of a strong and consistent Chicano/Latino voice on the American stage with such plays as "The Mission," "A Bowl of Beings," "Radio Mambo" and "Nuyorican Stories." Evolving over the years from sketch comics to cultural archaeologists of sorts, the trio has earned critical and public acclaim for their skillful use of humor to bring sensitive, heavyweight issues such as discrimination, racism, worker's rights and abuses of the injustice system into the greater public dialogue. Culture Clash's biting social commentary and incredible sense of comedic timing have earned them comparisons to the Marx Brothers, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Monty Python and Cantinflas. In addition, their flawless ability to change between characters of different nationalities, classes and genders make them the veritable Anthony Quinns of comedy. Since 1990, the group has created eight major theater works, were featured on the PBS Great Performances series, produced two seasons of cutting edge tv comedy, hosted a Los Angeles Chicano/Mexicano rock music festival, and kept a busy schedule of touring and performances at colleges and fundraisers. In 1998 alone, they debuted "The Birds," a critically-acclaimed adaptation of Aristophanes' classic Greek work, and "Bordertown," which examined the complexities of life in the San Diego/Tijuana region. They were also featured in the PBS documentary "The Border," made the cover of American Theatre magazine, published a book, Life, Death and Revolutionary Comedy, and served as grand marshall's for the irreverent Pasadena Doo Dah Parade. And the group shows no signs of slowing down. Fresh from a new play about New York, Culture Clash has already been commissioned to fix their lens on San Francisco and Washington D.C. With the help of the San Diego Repertory Theatre, these humorists have made San Diego a sort of second home in recent years. This relationship has helped the Rep develop a strong Latino audience base and has brought premium cutting edge Chicano satire to the San Diego/Tijuana community. The talented trio's latest offering at the Rep is a comedic combination plate of pieces from throughout their career. For those who have followed Culture Clash over the years, seeing "Anthology" is like reminiscing with an old friend about the ghosts of the past decade and a half: El Salvador, the L.A. Riots, the Columbus quincentenary, Chiapas and the death of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez. But far from drifting into nostalgia, the selected sketches invoke upon us to assess our advances as a culture and extol us not leave to behind these unresolved ghosts as we plot our course for the next millennium. What clearly comes into focus while reviewing the selections of their work in "Anthology" is the notion that not only was the material relevant when it was first performed, it is also relevant today. Are we any closer to solving the question of racism with Abner Louima, Demetrius Dubose and the LAPD Rampart Division scandal still fresh in our minds? And which is a stronger indicator of the Latino state of the union: the fact that Ricky Martin is a superstar or the fact that the Graham-Smith guest worker bill, which opponents have called the "indentured servitude" bill, threatens to re-establish a national Bracero-like program to benefit agribusiness? Culture Clash has always been attuned to these kinds of contradictions, absurdities and frightening realities, often tossing them back at the audience like a hot potato. When Siguenza as Che Guevara demands of Montoya the armchair activist "What's a Chicano?" in a popular skit from 1991's "A Bowl of Beings," Montoya shrieks desperately to the crowd "I still don't know!!" And the "beaners driving Beemers" of the same piece have grown to include Latinos "driving Suburbans in the suburbs." What "Anthology" reveals is that the question of cultural survival has become a quandary, wrapped inside a riddle, served with rice and beans. There is just as much confusion and rage as we enter the new millennium as there was during the dark days of the Decade of the Hispanic when Linda Ronstadt's "Canciones de mi Padre" was as close as we came to knowing ourselves. While Culture Clash's repertoire has grown to include characters from the throughout the spectrum of the American experience, such as surfers, developers, Haitian immigrants and even Shamu, they are never far from their Chicano frame of reference or activist position. And they retain the zany energy and playful physicality which have always been hallmarks of their three-ring circus. If there is one thing that seeing a Culture Clash demonstrates, it is the power of collective laughter to deal with difficult issues. Perhaps nothing describes the elements of Culture Clash's comedic kaleidoscope better, however, than Montoya's riffing on the letters C.C. in his "Spokenworld" piece: "C.C.: Si! Si!...Christopher Columbus...Catholic Church...Cheech and Chong...Cultural Colonialism...Cruel Cops...Che's Cuba...CIA Conspiracy...Chupa Cabra...Cesar Chavez...Charlie Chaplin...Chicano Clown." Culture Clash have chosen to end this portmanteau of performances on a bittersweet note that is caught somewhere between sadness and hope. As a large red and black UFW flag looms like a rising sun over them, the three stand onstage with suitcases and dressed in hats and overcoats while Montoya plays the melancholy strains of "Volver Volver" on an accordion. They embark on the journey anew, just as they began, partly detectives and partly spies, always on the move, and ever in search of America.   © 1999 Victor Payan back to top