ABSTRACT

William Worthen argues that Studying theater by starting with Zoot Suit opens up the world and opens up drama. Teachers can use the study of Zoot Suit, placed in its historical and cultural context, to achieve the following understandings and goals. Zoot Suit can easily be used to structure a course in American theater; studying it can also introduce a world drama class or provide a revealing case study within a literature survey. The author begins by suggesting an overall strategy and then turn to action-ideas for breaking into the world of the play. After getting Cesar Chavez's permission, Valdez worked with the striking farmworkers to develop the very first actos, realizing that violence could escalate easily on the picket lines of the United Farm Workers (UFW) Grape Strike in Delano, California, 1965. In keeping with the courtroom setting of much of the play, setting up a situation for critical thinking can be accomplished using a courtroom structure.