ABSTRACT
Why begin the study of American drama with the early Shakespeare performances, the bowdlerized versions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or the founding of the Provincetown Players? After an intense look at Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit (1992), a different approach suggests itself. Why not connect theater back to the very first theatrical performances in the United States in 1598 (Don Juan de Oñate), then on to the pastorelas, heroic dramas, amateur and professional theaters (Kanellos 1983: 17) operating continuously in the Southwest, California, and Texas right up to the present?
