An interview with Luis J. Rodriguez regarding the stage adaptation of his groundbreaking memoir “Always Running” which will premiere at CASA 0101 Theater on August 31

For those of us who have had the incredible honor of knowing Luis J. Rodriguez, it comes as no surprise that he continues to grow not only as a literary artist, but also as a social activist who can speak from experience about the redemptive and healing powers of art, love, and culture.

Now comes Luis Rodriguez’s latest effort, the dramatization of his groundbreaking memoir, Always Running, into a stage play at the Boyle Heights theater, CASA 0101, founded by Josefina López who is also the producer of the play. This is a joint production of CASA 0101 Theater and Tía Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore.

Always Running was adapted for the stage by Luis J. Rodriguez and Hector Rodriguez, is directed by Hector Rodriguez, and stars Rufino Romero as Luis J. Rodriguez, leading a cast of 11 actors playing 32 roles. The play will be presented for a six-week run on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 5:00 p.m. at CASA 0101 Theater, 2102 East First Street (at St. Louis Street), Boyle Heights, CA  90033, August 31 – October 20, 2019. Opening night is Saturday, August 31, 2019, at 8:00 p.m. Discounted previews will be presented on Thursday and Friday, August 29 and 30, 2019, at 8:00 p.m. Special Saturday matinees will be given on September 7, 14 and 21, 2019, at 3:00 p.m. There will be no performances September 27, 28 and 29, 2019.

There will be Q&A sessions as well as booking signings held with Luis J. Rodriguez after select Sunday matinee performances including Sundays, September 1, 8, 15, 22, and October 6, 2019. Denise M. Sandoval, Ph.D., Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, California State University, Northridge, will moderate the Q&A on September 1, 2019. Josefina López, Founding Artistic Director of CASA 0101 Theater and a Producer of the show, will moderate the Q&As on September 8 and 22, 2019. At the conclusion of each Q&A session, Luis J. Rodriguez will sign copies of his books, Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A., and its sequel, It Calls You Back: An Odyssey Through Love, Addiction, Revolutions & Healing, which will be available for purchase for $16 per book. For updates on the Q&A’s as well as information on directions, parking, planning your pre- or post-play meal, please visit the website.  To view some rehearsal footage of the play, please visit this link.

Despite an incredibly busy schedule, Luis Rodriguez kindly agreed to answer a few questions from La Bloga about his play:

DANIEL OLIVAS: Why did you decide to adapt your memoir Always Running into a play?

LUIS RODRIGUEZ: The stage is another way to tell this story from a book that has been used widely in schools, libraries, prisons, juvenile lockups, colleges, universities, and more for 26 years. We had to focus the story of my troubled youth since the memoir covers a lot of ground. The opportunity came when Casa 0101 Theater in 2018 achieved a staged production of three of my short stories from my book, The Republic of East L.A. The play was called Miss East L.A. with help of John F. Cantu, who wrote a film script of the same. Hector Rodriguez directed Miss East L.A. and I was impressed. I felt that here was a theater company that would put their heart and soul into the production. And, more importantly, work close with me for authenticity, language, and story development. I helped Hector adapt the memoir to a play; Hector will direct this production as well.

DO: It must be very strange to watch an actor play a younger version of yourself. How did you go about offering insight in terms of how you should be played, and how did you collaborate with the director?

LR: The play is based on Always Running but Hector and I took license to dramatize scenes from the book as well as add dialogue, conflict, and extended story line. There's still enough of Always Running to satisfy most readers of the book. I then saw the character "Luis/Louie/Chin" as someone else, not really me. At the same time, I wanted to make sure enough authentic details from the book and my life appear in the play to anchor it properly to Los Angeles during the late 1960s and early 1970s. This was the period that barrio warfare began a qualitatively more violent trajectory, which heightened in the 1980s and 1990s. I also wanted to make sure we didn't make caricatures of the cholos and barrio persons, again based on real people. They needed complexity, their shadow as well as their light. I also had a great time collaborating with Hector Rodriguez. He's good at what he does, but remained open to my insistence on the real.

DO: What do you hope audiences get from this theatrical version of your memoir?

LR: I want audiences to understand the difficult road a young Chicano youth worker had trying to pull out a defiant, drug-addicted, homeless, raging, and suicidal youth from the steely jaws of La Vida Loca. The tension has to do with the two steps forward, and a step back, that ensues between the two main characters. The youth worker is frustrated—at one point he seriously contemplates turning away from the young gang-banger. The gang youth is confused by, but intrigued, with the youth worker's guidance and determination. In the end, with the loss of his family, who pushed him out, and all of his closest homies, the gang youth begins the process of change and discovery—mostly through art/writing and social justice activism in the Chicano Movement of the day. This story should provide a strong argument for mentors, initiation, adequate resources, treatment, and creativity for all our young people caught in the traps of addiction, rage, and alienation prevalent in these poor and neglected communities.