Thereโs something Shakespearean about the Spanish Civil War, or at least the way Tucson theater troupe Shakesqueer Theater sees it.
The troupe uses the Bardโs โHenry IVโ as a template for its first-ever musical, โThe Radical History of Enrika la Quarta,โ which takes place in the early days of the Spanish Revolution of the late 1930s.
The story, penned by Shakesqueer actor/playwright Gabb Schivone, tells the story of a labor organizer Enrika, who has lost touch with his community and the person he loves and is a bit estranged from the political movement. Rumors and suspicions of a rebellion swirl as Enrika tries to preserve the fragile and precious revolt against the fascist military that would love nothing more than to restore its power and the darkness it brought.
The link to โHenry IVโ? In that play, which Schivone said isnโt on many Shakespeare companiesโ greatest hits list, rebels challenge King Henryโs reign, which also played out on the battlefields of Spain, as the Republicans fought back threats to the left-leaning government by the Nationalists, who were aligned with fascists and monarchists.
โI knew that the plot really fit,โ Schivone said. โYou have the established order and you have the rebellions and thatโs what happened in Spain.โ
Schivone, an investigative journalist whose work has appeared in a number of national publications, including The Intercept, has been fascinated with the Spanish Civil War and the socialist politics coming out of the 1930s labor movement since they were a teen.
They said the divide in the U.S. today and undertones of rebellion against the established order of American politics resonate with what Shakesqueer Theater is bringing to its stage.
โThereโs a lot of relevancy, more than anyone thought, when we were putting together the play,โ Schivone said. โWhat weโre showing on stage is the horror that could happen, but also the beauty and the love and the cooperation that we can all achieve for a better world.โ
Shakesqueer Theater was formed by what Schivone described as โa bunch of friends, leftist radicals here in town who are gayโ who were looking for a creative outlet to explore the issues of economic inequality, unemployment and the militarization on the border through the lens of gay radicalism.
At the end of the day, Schivone said, โour goals are just to ... have fun with our friends and put on plays for our communityโ in an outdoor setting that replicates street theater.
The troupe started working on โRadical Historyโ last fall, starting with Schivone writing the initial book that other troupe members workshopped and tweaked until they came out with what they will put on stage this weekend; the play opened on Saturday, March 30, and runs through Saturday, April 6, on an outdoor stage at Blacklidge Community Collective, 101 E. Ventura St., off North Sixth Avenue. Performances start at 7 p.m., and admission is $10-$20, although no one is turned away.
Unlike its six previous productions, which featured budgets in the hundreds of dollars, โRadical Historyโ has an $8,000 budget. Expenses include creating a stage from wood planks and plastic milk crates, all painted black, and a 10-foot backdrop painted with scenes of a forest and cityscape.
Some 30 troupe members are involved in the production; Schivone plays three characters and learned to play harmonica alongside other cast members. The show borrows from the 1930s politically-charged protest songs by iconic American folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie, including โDirty Overalls (My Dirty Overhauls)โ and โAll You Fascists Bound to Lose;โ the Italian protest song โBella Ciao;โ and Phil Oakesโ โLove Me, Iโm A Liberal.โ
โRadical Historyโ will be performed in English and Spanish.