'Making Art Work' series will begin with talk on American theater

Samuel Long / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An artistic director from a Minneapolis company is coming to Pittsburgh to talk about what values should be exemplified in the next era of American theater.

Mark Valdez, artistic director of Mixed Blood, a theater company from Minneapolis, said he grew up in Texas with a Latino background. He was always been drawn to storytelling through theater, but, in his own words, he was a “terrible actor.” 

During his time at Texas Tech University in the late 1980s, Valdez followed his storytelling passion by declaring a major in journalism. In his first year, a professor from a theater class told him he would be a good director — something Valdez hadn’t thought of doing in the drama industry. It had never occurred to him that there were other things he could do aside from acting. 

And it was that comment from a teacher that led Valdez to pursue directing as his career, which for the past 20 years has been dedicated to including groups of people in his writing that have been left out of the western “canon.” Though he enjoyed theater from a young age, he said didn’t see a Latino actor on a professional theater stage until he was 21 years old. 

“A lot of my work making a room for people who may not see themselves as theater makers, as artists, to give them the invitation to make, to create,” Valdez said. “In doing so, their stories become part of the canon.” 

His values line up with those of Mixed Blood Theater’s. The 48-year-old company uses theater to “disrupt injustices, advance equity and build community,” according to its website. The company partners with individuals, groups and organizations that share similar values to creatively impact their areas of focus, which include climate change, housing and healthcare. 

On Monday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m., Valdez will discuss those values with Sarah Cain, an associate director for Pittsburgh Public Theater at the O’Reilly Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh. 

The panel is part of Pittsburgh Public Theater’s “Making Art Work” series, which is bringing acclaimed artistic directors, government officials and others from around the country who work at higher learning institutions and award-winning theater companies. These individuals will explore how to “make art work” in behind-the-scenes conversations. 

During the Monday conversation with Valdez, he and Cain will talk about the various ways art impacts civic life, how to create belonging in theater and the various benefits the arts has for individual health and who has access to them. 

Valdez dubbed these topics as pieces of “Radical Hospitality” — something he describes as the “ethos” of Mixed Blood Theater.

“Everything from the way that we welcome people into our space, the stories that we put on stage, who gets to tell them, how they are told and how do we make sure that everything is accessible and available?” Valdez said. “So it’s just permeated in all aspects of how we approach our work.” 

Valdez said he hopes Radical Hospitality can be more effectively incorporated by using different forms of entertainment. For example, many theater performances are bound to the stage. However, Mixed Blood makes plays interactive for the audience with small groups, line dances, house performances and more. 

“For instance, we created a piece called ‘The Most Beautiful Home... Maybe,’ which is toured across the country,” Valdez said. “It still lives on in workshops for housing advocates. We’re doing this participatory, immersive theater piece around climate change called ‘Upstream.’ In these productions, there’s audience participation.”

And in the next era of American theater, Valdez wants communities to go to theater events not just for entertainment, but to call upon artists to help face difficult societal problems. 

“Something that really is super important to me is trying to find ways to be useful,” he said. “I think that all theaters, we have more to offer our communities than the place that we produce.”