Playwright Jose Cruz Gonzalez and director Ricky Araiza talk about "Tomas and the Library Lady"

Season 1, Episode 20,   Feb 14, 2023, 12:43 AM

Vanguardia America host James E. Garcia interviews California-based playwright Jose Cruz Gonzalez and Ricky Araiza of Tempe, AZ's Childsplay Theater Company. The duo will be talking about a play by Gonzalez titled “Tomas and the Library Lady,” which opened Feb. 4 and runs through March 12 at the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix.

Childsplay produces shows aimed at young audiences, mainly children from about five to 12 or so, but take it from me the company’s  productions are great for adult audiences as well.

"Tomas and the Library Lady" is the story of boy from a migrant farm worker family that travels to Iowa to pick crops, where young Tomas pays his first visit to a library and learns to love books. It’s a heartwarming piece inspired by the life of Tomas Rivera, who grew up to be an esteemed author, scholar and the onetime president of the University of California - Riverside.

But the story’s themes, as you’ll hear from the playwright, still echo today, particularly in the wake of far-right attacks on Latinos and especially undocumented Latino immigrants. Even today, some 40 to 50 percent of migrant farm workers in the U.S. are undocumented.

To learn more about this play's scheduled performances, visit www.childsplayaz.org.