Humor. Laughter. Two languages. Three generations. Eight characters.

One performer.

     But it still adds up to humor that should give audiences some good laughs when Texas native Jade Esteban Estrada performs two shows in Yakima -- a Friday night performance at Davis High School and a Saturday night program at the Rainbow Cathedral Metropolitan Community Church.

    Estrada, who appeared on Comedy Central's "The Graham Norton Effect," said Friday's one-man show, "Tortilla Heaven" (which won the 2004 Literary Award for Best Play) will grip the cultural struggles Mexican-Americans face in assimilating into the United States while attempting to keep their traditions.

     And the same is true for his Saturday performance, a solo play called "ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 1."

     "It's very important for us to discuss our differences in order to move on," Estrada said during a phone interview last week from his San Antonio home.

     During the Davis show, Estrada portrays characters from first, second and third generations. He plans to capture the struggles of immigrants and identify the "pressures of America," which allows him to reach out to all viewers regardless of their ethnicity.

     Although the play "Tortilla Heaven" -- written by his sister, Celeste Angela, and directed by his brother, David Miguel -- reflects his challenges as a fourth-generation Mexican-American and has hints of his relationship with his abuela (grandmother), it doesn't focus on Estrada's life.

     "The story hits different aspects of (all) people's lives," the 31-year-old Estrada said. "There's so much truth in it. It's impossible for no one (to) understand it."

     And it's a truth -- with a snap of comedy -- Maria Cuevas was searching for to close this year's Yakima Valley Community College Cultural Diversity Series and kick off the college's weekend conference of MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, or Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan).

     Cuevas, diversity series organizer, said the performance touches various diversity issues facing the Yakima Valley and the country, including ethnicity, gender, language and race. And it allows the community to learn about them to later participate nationwide dialogues.

     "It helps identify with the human element of the serious issue," Cuevas said.

 

©2007 Yakima Herald-Republic