Brothers John and Gabriel Fraire have written two plays so far, including the one opening this weekend at the Raven, Who Will Dance With Pancho Villa? Or rather “re-opening”—in a rare turn, the Raven is bringing January’s production back to the stage intact.
The process of remounting a play, said Raven Theater creative director Steven David Martin, is “unusual for us, but not unprecedented.” He cited the rebirth of Evil Dead–The Musical in 2023 following its original 2022 production. “That proved to be so popular we brought it back the next season.”
Similar reasons are given for this return run of Who Will Dance With Pancho Villa?, opening Friday for seven performances over two weekends. The play tells the story of a young Chicano from Chicago, lured to the East Coast by an Ivy League scholarship. Experiences from both brothers worked their way into the script, and onto the stage for the first time in off-Broadway in 1994.
As part of the Raven Players’ new works program, ScripTease, the playwrights updated the story with the introduction of dancing spirits in the form of the Ballet Folklórico Legado de Mi Alegría de Cloverdale. The spirits, intertwined throughout the play, remind the main character—named Chicano—of the joy in dancing. Pancho Villa, according to border lore, loved to dance.
“Pancho was extremely popular with our audience, and so many people expressed disappointment they weren’t able to see it that we decided to remount to give them, and many folks who wanted to see it again, a chance,” Martin said.
“For the Raven to do a remount of our play is quite an honor,” said older brother Gabriel Fraire, a Healdsburg resident. “You don’t see many plays re-produced in the same year. It is a tribute to a great director, cast and dancers.”
John Fraire has a straightforward answer to the play’s success. “The play resonates with us because we want people to see an honest portrayal of Chicano culture and history,” he said. “Not the lies and falsehoods being promoted.”
The remount or “extended run” means it is in almost all ways a recreation of the January show—same cast, director and dancers. The Raven production earlier this year was the second Fraire brothers play on the local stage: Cesar Died Today was staged in 2023.
Brother John Fraire, a historian and university administrator, believes Who Will Dance with Pancho Villa? “is an important work for all communities, not just the Latino/Chicano community, because it demonstrates the importance of embracing cultural roots while also looking and moving forward.”
The brothers agreed that the play’s focus exclusively on Mexican history and culture gives the story its universal appeal, as the playwrights intended. “We wanted to write a play that emphasized that identity is how one leads their life,” said the younger Fraire. “It is not a set of characteristics that one has or does not have.”
Fans of the brothers’ two earlier works will be interested to learn they are working on other projects. “We have one play at an advanced stage of development and two others in a planning stage,” Gabriel Fraire said. “But we both have other projects and we are focused at the moment on this theater production of Pancho.”
The cast again features Rosa Reynoza (Windsor’s mayor) as the Mother, Juan Vera as the Father, Gabriel Vera as El Guerito, Ismael Ramos as Chicano and Ramon Meraz as Pancho, among others. Jenna Vera Dolcini again directs, and the folkloric dancers repeat their steps.
Several members of the cast will join the brothers Fraire at Mitote Food Park in Santa Rosa on Saturday, Aug. 8, to promote the show—in full costume, of course. Imagine meeting Pancho Villa at a food truck. Or dancing with him.
‘Who Will Dance With Pancho Villa?’ opens Friday, Aug. 7, and plays weekends through Aug. 15. For evening shows, Thursday – Saturday curtain time is 7:30pm; Sunday matinees are at 2pm. For tickets visit raventheater.org.
