In this episode, the SDCF 2021 Zelda Fichandler Award Winner, Mark Valdez is interviewed by Michael John Garcés and they discuss everything from the most beautiful theater and how art can influence policy to rethinking the need for traditional performance spaces and leavening heavy themes with silliness and surprises. This podcast took place in early February 2022, Mark is now the current Artistic Director for the Mixed Blood Theatre. The Zelda Fichandler Award recognizes directors and choreographers who have demonstrated great accomplishment to date with singular creativity and deep investment in a particular community or region. The award was named after Zelda Fichandler who was the founding artistic director of the Arena Stage in Washington D.C. You can find this year's recipient and finalists here.  

Mark Valdez is an LA-based director, writer, and cultural organizer. His work has been seen at community venues and professional theatres across California, including a tomato field in Grayson, a de-commissioned Catholic cathedral in downtown LA, as well from the stages of La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley to the stages of Ricardo Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood for a Center Theatre Group produced production. Nationally, Mark has worked at theatres such as the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, where he created A Road to a Dream, a community collaboration along a 10-mile stretch of the Buford Highway, to shed light on the toll our nation’s broken immigration policies have on families and communities; Arizona’s Childsplay Theatre where he adapted and directed Gary Soto’s book, Chato’s Kitchen, about a low-rider gato from East LA; and Trinity Rep in Providence, where he directed A Christmas Carol that included 85 community choirs. His play Highland Park is Here, won the Audience Award at the Highland Park Film Festival and will be featured in Re:Encuentro, the national Latina/o/x Theater Festival. He is a current Board member of Double Edge Theatre and Cornerstone Theater Company, and a former Board member of TCG. Mark is currently working on The Most Beautiful Home…Maybe, a multi-city project that aims to influence housing policy utilizing performance, cultural organizing, and creative community development strategies.