Collecting together Fin del Mundo, Valley of the Heart, and Adíos Mamá Carlota, this book compiles the latest plays of Luis Valdez and explores how they stand to be considered masterpieces by the man who brought the world Zoot Suit and La Bamba. Luis Valdez has been described as the “last of the great American playwrights,” referring to a Golden Age of U.S. playwriting that began with Eugene O’Neill and included Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and August Wilson. Like these other playwrights, Valdez’s impact on theatre needs to be measured on a global scale. The plays are psychologically deep, with powerful political messages woven into sophisticated plots and minutely drawn characters, all done with the characteristic rasquachi theatricality that made Valdez a household name. Fin del Mundo follows the protagonist through a maze-like urban afterlife that is by turns hilarious and deeply moving. In Valley of the Heart we witness a fictionalization of the true history of the relationship of Chicanos to Japanese-Americans during the horrific internments of World War II. Finally, in Adíos Mamá Carlota, we share the final moments of the former Empress of Mexico, teetering on the edge of madness, as she relives her extraordinary life and faces crippling guilt over her actions. Together, these plays represent a crowning achievement in the storied life of Luis Valdez. In this collection, each play is preceded by an introductory chapter by Jorge A. Huerta with analysis of the play. This collection is a vital and indispensable text for practitioners and students, as well as scholars of contemporary theatre, American, and Chicano performance.
