by Sandra Beckmeier

"Teatro, may I help you?" says Artistic Director Rodney Garza as I walked into the tiny office he shares with Ellos Gallery. I mistakenly thought he was talking to me. The phone call ended and our interview began. Leaning on critical points, and dodging leading questions, Garza gave me insight into Austin's only bilingual theater company, Teatro Humanidad Cansada.

As I waited for our interview playing with my tape recorder, Garza flipped through pages of a script, challenging the notion for what best suits the company's overall vision for the stage. THC is quickly becoming known for perseverance and sincerity, taking a serious stab with hilarious references in successful efforts to shatter Latino stereotypes. The Revenge of the Latino Comedy Project is the company's precursor to Latinos Anonymous, a rocket-fueled production and THC's first endeavor working with a large venue.

Garza founded Teatro Humanidad Cansada in 1993 to participate in one of the FronteraFest experiments at Hyde Park Theater. It was a one act play, "on shoestrings," as Garza recalled, and in the fall of 1994 enough money was pulled together to produce I Don't Have To Show You No Stinking Badges. The play was written by Luis Valdez, who also authored Zoot Suit, and it put the company on the map and under the wing of city sponsorship. "My original intention was to produce Zoot Suit, but they didn't have the rights available at that time," Garza said. Later that year brought the success of two productions, Operation Peace On Earth, and the Lakota Creation Story.

In 1995 a trend began when Garza produced the roller-coaster comedy Petra's Pecado. Made in Albuquerque and San Francisco and based upon a small town character about to lose her tortilleria (factory) to the IRS. The character makes a last ditch effort to help out her workers by calling in free cable for a month, while ending up being paid a miraculous visit by the Virgin de Guadalupe after perusing the playboy channel and asking for penance for observing fornication.

"There aren't too many bilingual theater companies geared toward Latinos who are creatively linked to San Francisco, Houston, and San Antonio," Garza said. "Some of the people in other cities have been around since the '70s, and since they're still around that has kept us connected, not only land wise, region wise, but also time wise. Now the younger generation is getting a hand on things and moving forward."

"That is part of my mission to establish us as a nationally recognized company. At this point we haven't done much touring, but I have met people across the way, so those possibilities are open. After we close Latinos Anonymous I'm taking off to Seattle for a residency which will connect us to the Centre de la Raza, which has been around for 25 years, and is the Smithsonian for certain kinds of people," Garza stated. "One of our goals is to get our name out there. Right now I'm talking to Luisa Leschin, from Los Angeles and one of the writers for Latins Anonymous. So now it's like let's call L.A., New York, and where things have sprung up pretty quickly here in Texas, in part because cast members have relatives coming up from regions that are Hispanic-populated. People have to come up here because there isn't this kind of stuff down there."

Latinos Anonymous opens August 7 at the Paramount Theater and runs through the 9th. It is the last planned production of the season, but keep a lookout for Basement Refugees, scheduled to open early November. "We're waiting on another script from that author, who wants us to produce this other script. So we'll see what happens," Garza explained. "From there we'll have three or four productions which will carry us into the spring, some of which are certain and some we're still contracting."