LATINIDADES 2: ‘El Pazchuco for Prez’ @ Cara Mia Theatre
Photos and art courtesy of Cara Mia Theatre Company
—Teresa Marrero
Rodney Garza, a long-time collaborator with Dallas teatros, returns with a scathing political satire tailor made for our times. El Pazchuco for Prez was written and directed by Garza, and presented by Cara Mía Theatre as part of the 6th Annual Latinidades Festival. The show had its development and first shows at San Antonio´s historically important Guadalupe Cultural Center, a place that could be called the cradle of Chicano theatre in the Southwest. The creative team for the Dallas premiere October 3-5 included Jorge Piña, who Cara Mía´s executive artistic director David Lozano rightfully called a respected elder and mentor.
El Pazchuco for Prez emerges from Garza´s prolific imagination as satirical fantasia that proposes a zoot-suited lecturer as a political disruptor. In the imagined realm of Los United Estates of Aztlán, “politricks” reign, and only a trickster with rhetorical flair can wake us from complacency. The word pazchuco is a neologism that fuses the word paz, meaning peace in Spanish, with the inferred pachuco, the name of the original Vato Loco (crazy dude) of the Los Angeles Zoot Suit riots of 1943 that pitted WW II servicemen against Mexican-American youths. Those events provided the framework for Chicano theater´s emblematic play (and film) Zoot Suit, written and directed by Luis Valdez of the Teatro Campesino.
The cultural and political references here are so prolific and deep that taking on this task feels overwhelming for a concise performance review. This play requires a close reading of the script—and some knowledge of Chicano and US history—to fully gain access to its references.
THE PLOT:
The plot centers on Garza as El Pazchuco, a charismatic bilingual poetic orator-cum- candidate whose campaign resembles both carnival and prophecy. He is summoned by the Aztec god of war, Huitzilopochtli, to act against the ravages being aimed at his people. Thus he creates a new party, the OG, Original Guerreros (the original warriors).
His performance commands the Latino Cultural Center´s main stage: he teases, denounces, and challenges all at once. Around him the ensemble weaves in voices that mock, support, confront, and narrate. However, this is not a solo show. The two other main characters are his campaign manager, Carmela Juarez (played by Anna De Luna), and his nemesis, Don Aldo Trumpayaso (played by Mark Riojas). The esthetic is clownlike, with exaggerated face makeup (John McBurney) and oversized, colorful costumes (Kim Corbin)—plus video projections from James Borrego and lighting by Max Parrilla. These design elements,—especially the lighting contrasts and a pulsating soundscape—amplify the text’s sharpness. Visual cues (shadows, color shifts) accentuate the transitions from farce to critique. Design supports the rhetorical atmosphere and Garza’s linguistic arcs, rather than competing with them.
The ensemble actors play multiple roles: Salvador Saucedo, Regan Arevalos, Catie Carlile, Joseph Dailey, and Xavier Lopez. They range from rigged television announcers to rigged debate moderator, to the magical, larger than life figure of the Aztec god of war, Huitzilopochtli.
THE TRICKSTER:
Garza’s El Pazchuco is magnetic: he anchors the stage, balancing swagger, wit, and provocation with finesse. He draws the audience into his Chicanesque logic through bilingual, linguistic turns making us both spectators and participants. In this case, if you know Chicano-pachuco slang, you are in. If not, well you can still get the gist. His monologues oscillate between vaudeville rhythms and rhetorical assault, ensuring we laugh—and then wince. Garza’s poetic riffs are truly amazing.
CONSIDERATIONS:
At times, the shifts between satire and allegory can feel abrupt. Some scenes read more as expository overviews than as dramatized conflict. Paring down or merging certain transitions (especially those heavy in political mythology) might smooth pacing. In terms of audibility, I found it challenging to hear and understand Riojas´ diction under the three-quarters face mask. The play ran for two plus hours, which despite the intermission, still felt too long. This may be partly due to the last segment, the Wreckoning, in which the defeated figure of Trumpayaso is at the pearly gates of Heaven, where he is not allowed to enter. Frankly, I did not understand the Luciano Pavarotti segment.
CONCLUSION:
El Pazchuco for Prez at Cara Mía is not simply a political satire—it is a theatrical summons. With Garza as the trickster-visionary at the helm, and a committed ensemble around him, the Dallas run delivers sharp laughter with a sting. The heart of the show pulses: theater as reckoning, laughter as resistance, theater as a center of community engagement in issues that matter.
It’s not perfect—but alive, brave, and necessary for this moment.
Teresa Marrero is Professor of Spanish at the University of North Texas. She specializes in Latin American and Latine Theater in the United States. https://class.unt.edu/people/m-teresa-marrero.html
WHEN: October 3-4, 2025
WHERE: Latino Cultural Center, 2600 Live Oak St., Dallas
WEB: For a full schedule of performances go to https://caramiatheatre.org/latinidades-festival/
