\u201cHearing the news and reading it, I was in absolute tears,\u201d said director Sara Guerrero. \u201cI didn’t know what to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n
She wondered if the play, \u00a1S\u00ed Se Puede!<\/a>, would be pulled before it had a chance to begin.<\/p>\n Let us help you find the most interesting things to do<\/p>\n Sign up for the Best Things To Do newsletter, our twice weekly roundup of L.A.’s most interesting events.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat would be the best way to continue to elevate this woman who endured a lot?\u201d Guerrero said.<\/p>\n The answer Guerrero and the rest of the cast and crew landed on reflects a struggle for many since the allegations against Chavez were published. How do you square the gains of a movement that humanized and improved the lives of farmworkers \u2014 led by a man who inspired generations of activists \u2014 with the harm done by that same leader? <\/p>\n Watch ‘\u00a1S\u00ed Se Puede!’<\/p>\n When: 6 p.m. Friday, April 10 (Huerta\u2019s birthday)Where: Wabash Recreational Center in East L.A.\u2014 2765 Wabash Ave.<\/a>Cost: Free, RSVP here<\/a>.Want more shows? Center Theatre Group is considering more community-based performances. To learn more, email education@ctgla.org<\/a>.Resources for educators and families: Center Theatre Group also created a guide<\/a> to accompany the show that includes history about the creators, characters and movement.<\/p>\n The origin of ‘\u00a1S\u00ed Se Puede!’<\/p>\n Today, Center Theatre Group is most known for the shows hosted at its flagship downtown L.A. theaters and in Culver City, but decades ago, the organization toured.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to exist outside of the institutions, otherwise we\u2019re not part of the global citizenship,\u201d said Jesus Reyes, director of learning and community partnerships. \u201c\u200aThere’s so many young people and older people who have lost touch with art \u2026 So it’s also our responsibility to put it out there.\u201d<\/p>\n Director Sara Guerrero (left) and Playwright Eliana Pipes stand in front of the set for “\u00a1S\u00ed Se Puede!.” Both have longstanding ties to L.A.’s theatre community. <\/p>\n Center Theatre Group commissioned an all-ages play about Huerta from writer Eliana Pipes in March 2025 to kickstart a pilot program that would bring shows to lesser-known regional venues.<\/p>\n Pipes devoured documentaries, books and conducted her own interviews with people connected to the farmworker movement.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s this perception that farm work was only done by men,\u201d Pipes said. \u201cBut\u2026 there were women on the fields, there were women on the picket lines, and there were women in leadership in the United Farm Workers movement.\u201d<\/p>\n A necessary pivot<\/p>\n On the day the New York Times’ investigation published, Guerrero got together with Pipes and others from Center Theatre Group to discuss how to move forward.<\/p>\n \u201c\u200aWhat really stood out to us was that we had always intended to elevate the story and call to action of Dolores Huerta,\u201d Guerrero said.<\/p>\n The United Farm Workers’ grape boycotts depicted in the play are credited with helping the union win contracts with growers and eliminate the use of certain pesticides. <\/p>\n The decision: Chavez would remain a minor character \u2014 albeit with fewer lines. Pipes re-typed the play and drove to the final rehearsal at East Los Angeles College. She pulled over once to cry.<\/p>\n The cast performed a dress rehearsal for an audience of ELAC students.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were some tears, there was a lot of laughter and celebration, and I think it felt really healing for everybody to get to celebrate her, especially in this moment,\u201d Pipes said.<\/p>\n El Teatro Campesino<\/p>\n \u00a1S\u00ed Se Puede! also highlights farmworker leaders like Larry Itliong, who\u2019d organized Filipino farmworkers<\/a> for years before Huerta and Chavez started working with Mexican laborers. Filipino farmworkers, historically less visible, started the 1965 Delano Grape Strike<\/a> and Itliong later became a leader in United Farm Workers under Chavez.<\/p>\n The language of the play \u2014 English, Spanish and Tagalog \u2014 and the production design reflect the culture of the farmworker movement, incorporating a style of skits performed for farmworkers from the backs of flatbed trucks.<\/p>\n \u201cEl Teatro Campesino<\/a> was not just entertainment, but it was also an organizing tool,\u201d Pipes said. \u201cThe actors that they put on were meant to educate farm workers on the fields about their rights and incentivize them to join the strike.\u201d<\/p>\n This El Teatro Campesino workbook belonged to Pipes\u2019 grandmother who met Huerta through United Farm Workers meetings hosted at Santa Monica\u2019s Unitarian Universalist Community Church. <\/p>\n The style of El Teatro Campesino is big and theatrical. The politician character’s devil mask is also a nod to the archetypes often found in the style’s skits. <\/p>\n Pipes was also tasked with translating the complexities of the farmworker movement into a narrative appropriate for all ages.<\/p>\n Sometimes that meant taking a few creative liberties with the character\u2019s personal traits, like swapping Itliong\u2019s trademark cigar for a lollipop.<\/p>\n More difficult was acknowledging the sometimes violent backlash the farmworkers faced. For example, a police attack on United Farm Worker demonstrators in San Francisco in 1988<\/a> left Huerta, then 58, with a ruptured spleen and fractured ribs.<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775615365_236_.jpeg\")
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