Richard Montoya

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Richard Montoya at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, September 2019

Richard Montoya is an American actor, director, producer, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, and co-founding member of the San Francisco based performance troupe Culture Clash.[1][2][3][4] His work in theatre is largely comedy-based and centers around ideas of racism, immigration, discrimination, and identity in Latin-American communities.[4] He follows in the steps of his father, famous activist José Montoya, and is known for creating social and political change through a variety of artistic expressions.[4][5]

Early life and education

Richard Montoya was born in

El Teatro Campesino, as well as with the Sundance Institute's Writers and Directors Lab.[4][8] He has been awarded two Annenberg Fellowships through the Sundance Institute. He used his 2007 grant to transform Water & Power, what was originally created as a play by Culture Clash, into the 2013 film of the same name.[4][9]

Career

Early career: Culture Clash

On May 5, 1984 Richard Montoya along with Ric Salinas,

Culture Clash in AmeriCCa, Chavez Ravine, and A Bowl of Beings.[10]

Later career and notable works

Although Culture Clash is still a collective, Montoya has also branched out and created works of his own. In addition to works produced through Culture Clash, Montoya has authored and co-authored works for a variety of works for prominent theatre companies like Berkeley Rep, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the San Diego Repertory Theatre.[11] In addition to these co-authored works, as an independent writer he has created such works as Water & Power (play, 2006; film, 2013), American Night: The Ballad of Juan José (play, 2010),[12] and The River (play, 2013).[13] Montoya also served as a staff writer on the first season of NBC's Southland.[13]

Montoya played a role in Jared and Jerusha Hess's 2006 movie Nacho Libre.

Critical reception

Works created through Culture Clash have received mixed reviews from critics and audience members. According to the LA Times, the 2003 production of the group's Chavez Ravine lacked depth[14] and others said it was too long to hold audience's attention,[15] even though audience members touted the work as "the group's most important play".[16] The troupe revived the play in 2015 and received more positive, but still mixed, reviews.[16][17]

Montoya's individual creations, such as American Night: The Ballad of Juan José, which originally debuted at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2010, were generally well received by critics, being called "fun and thoughtful".[18] Water & Power, the 2013 film written and directed by Montoya has an average rating of 3.6/5 based on 152 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, with 67% of audience members liking the film.[19]

Legacy

Montoya's personal and professional papers are housed at the California State University, Northridge (CSUN) Special Collections and Archives in the University Library.[20]

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Richard Montoya.

References

  1. ^ Garcia, David Gumaro (2006). The Evolution of a Critical Race Theater: Culture Clash and Chicana/o Performance Art, 1965–2005 (Thesis). University of California, Los Angeles.
  2. ^ Garcia, David G. (2006). "Remembering Chavez Ravine: Culture Clash and Critical Race Theater" (PDF). Chicano-Latino Law Review. 26 (1): 111–130. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  3. California State University, San Marcos
    . Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Grimm, Tracy. Richard Montoya Papers. Julian Samora Library at the Institute for Latino Studies, 2012. Web. https://latinostudies.nd.edu/assets/134273/richardmontoyapapers.pdf
  5. ^ "José Montoya : The Poetry Foundation". www.poetryfoundation.org. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  6. ^ a b "Richard Montoya Culture Clash Collection, 1989–2004".
  7. ^ a b c "Richard Montoya: 25 Years Of Laughing About Race". NPR.org. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  8. ^ "Richard Montoya Culture Clash Collection, 1989–2004 | Special Collections & Archives". findingaids.csun.edu. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  9. ISSN 0458-3035
    . Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  10. ^ "Latino Archives". digital-library.csun.edu. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  11. ^ "Artslandia Q + A with Richard Montoya – Artslandia – Portland's Performing Arts Guide". Artslandia – Portland's Performing Arts Guide. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  12. ^ "Oregon Shakespeare Festival: American Night".
  13. ^ a b "New play reading series: The River by Richard Montoya".
  14. ISSN 0458-3035
    . Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  15. ^ "Chavez Ravine – Culture Clash". CultureVulture. 2003-06-06. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  16. ^ a b "Culture Clash adds more bite in 'Chavez Ravine: An L.A. Revival'". Los Angeles Times. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  17. ^ "Chavez Ravine". TheaterMania.com. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  18. ^ "Theater review: Oregon Shakespeare Festival's history cycle, 'American Revolutions' begins with fun, thoughtful 'American Night'". OregonLive.com. 21 August 2010. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  19. ^ "Water & Power". www.rottentomatoes.com. 2014-05-02. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  20. ^ Marshall, Robert; Graff, Rebecca (February 2004). "Guide to the Richard Montoya Culture Clash Collection" (PDF). Online Archive of California. California Digital Library. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
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