TNM's second show was Carlos Morton's classic Chicano protest piece El Jardín. A tribute to the Chicano movement of the 60's and 70's, El Jardín is a coming-of-age play that pulled no punches in confronting the Catholic Church, historic scholarship, the "colonized" mentality, racism and gender bias. Playwright Carlos Morton, Ph.D., from California, attended the play and delivered a lecture on Chicano theater.

The final play of our premiere season began with three bank tellers, a janitor and an uptight bank customer stuck in a break room during a bank robbery. Does this sound like a joke? Well, it's no joke - it's the setting for El Banco, a hilarious play by Mexican playwright Victor Hugo Rascón Banda, whose work has delighted audiences throughout Mexico and Latin America. Translated by Susan Charles, this mix of reality TV and subtle social commentary had audiences laughing and thinking at the same time.

Luisa Fernanda, by Federico Moreno Torroba, with a libretto by Federico Romero and Guillermo Fernández Shaw, proved a first in more ways than one. Not only did it start off our second season, it was also the first presentation of the Patty Disney Zarzuela series,an ongoing collaboration between TNM and the National Hispanic Cultural Center. On top of that, it was the first presentation by a resident New Mexican theater company in the brand-new Albuquerque Journal Theater of the Center's Roy E. Disney Center for Performing Arts. This beautiful love story, set against a 19th century revolutionary movement in Spain, not only delighted all who saw it, it represented a renewed commitment to the classic art form of zarzuela for the 21st century.

With Sonnets For An Old Century, TNM returned to the rich works of playwright José Rivera, this time with his tribute to the end of the 20th century. Twenty-odd people sit in a waiting room to the afterlife, each awaiting their chance to say their final words regarding life. Presented in partnership with the Vortex Theater, this show presented Albuquerque with another first - a true collaboration of over two dozen local actors and directors, coming together to present a single powerful and expressive play.

Shadow Of A Man is Cherrie Moraga's heartbreaking exploration of the dynamics at work in a Chicano family. While focusing on the small world of a single home, the play at once gave the audience familiar and recognizable characters, while at the same time delving into the larger issues of alcoholism, fidelity, and the vast differences in our society between men and women. This strong feminist work was performed at the Lobo Theater.