Make the Dream Real: World-Building Performance by El Vez, the Mexican Elvis (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781835953624)

Explores the intricate world-building of El Vez's performances and how they enable audiences to imagine a more socially just society.

El Vez, also known as the Mexican Elvis, presents a powerful message of social justice and inclusion in his performances. Make the Dream Real interrogates how this message is activated through world-building: the use of a variety of theoretical, theatrical, and musical tactics that bring into being a progressive social space that refutes the current economic, political, social, and cultural configurations of the United States.

World-building in an El Vez show immerses the audience in a social space in which equal rights are guaranteed, inclusivity is fostered, difference is valued, and the violence of economic inequality is mitigated. Using a dramaturgical methodology that marries critical inquiry with theatrical practice, the book delves into the theoretical foundations that inform artist Robert Lopez's work, and each chapter analyzes a different performative component he uses.

Make the Dream Real interrogates how El Vez's playful engagements hold the United States to its egalitarian promises, voicing and enacting--however fleetingly--a just and richly inclusive social space through performance.

Author: Karen Jean Martinson
ISBN-10: 183595362X
ISBN-13: 9781835953624
Publisher: Intellect (UK)
Language: English
Published: 07/08/2026
Pages: 254
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.21lbs
Size: 9.62h x 6.71w x 0.68d