Law Chavez is an M.F.A. UNM student and actor who traveled across the country for 12 years before returning to New Mexico. He can also talk your ear off about beavers. Most of Chavez’s plays focus on history, a practice that allows him to earn grant money from local organizations. He participated in a live reading in last year’s Words Afire Festival, and he plans to attend this year’s festival.
Daily Lobo: You said your parents weren’t supportive of your acting at first. What did they want you to do instead?
Law Chavez: Agronomy, actually (laughs). My father was a big-time golfer. He built golf courses around the city, and he stopped at the Rio Rancho Golf Course. It was more of a joint effort on both their parts of me accepting a theater scholarship here at UNM. And at that time, it was in fashion to go to school outside of the city you lived in, so they wanted me to go off, so I went to New Mexico State for a while. And then I dropped out of that because I wasn’t happy with that.
DL: Then what?
LC: Then after a couple of years there was an audition for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and I didn’t even tell them about that. And when I got in, they were like, “Well, OK. It’s a school.”
DL: Could you explain what the American Academy is?
LC: It’s an acting conservatory. It’s in the top of the acting schools in the country.
DL: Could you tell me a bit about that time in your life? I mean, what was going through your head when you were accepted in that school?
LC: First of all, I was shocked that I had gotten in because it was just this rigorous program of auditions and letters of support and you had to get a physical examination. You also had to take a questionnaire about your mental health because you were going to go in, and they were going to build you as an actor. I guess I was just more scared than anything else, but I was excited. And then I got there, and every day was being beaten down.
DL: A lot of your work focuses on New Mexico history. Is there a reason for that?
LC: There’s certain things about New Mexico that I have always been curious about and then I start to uncover them, and they are huge. New Mexico just has this really rich history.
DL: Do you have an example?
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LC: The Alvarado Hotel for example. It was at First and Central, and that bus terminal is actually a replica of what the hotel looked like. It was the place to go in Albuquerque forever, and then they tore it down for a parking lot for banking. By the time the community was aware of what was going on, it was too late, and it was demolished, and it really destroyed the morale of the city.
DL: So what are you trying to do by tying history into your plays? Just because? Or is there a higher reason for it?
LC: It’s an integrated art lesson. It’s my way to get people to know about the history of New Mexico. Nobody wants to take a history class when you can see a movie or play and it has the story in it, and you learn a lot. It’s a really cheesy example, but like the movie “Titanic.” You learn so much about naval history and how ships work, and of course you deal with the love story, but you learn a lot. And that’s my main goal. And my play I have been talking about, Caballos Muertos, it is about the beaver population. Did you know about that?
DL: No, tell me more.
LC: Before New Mexico went into Mexican territory and Americans were allowed in, the beaver population in New Mexico was huge. It actually controlled the watershed of the Rio Grande. Within a matter of years, the American beaver trappers came in. There was a huge demand for beaver fur in Paris and London. The Americans came in and pretty much wiped out the beaver population. Once they did, the Rio Grande just flooded, but it couldn’t control it’s flooding anymore.
So then the Army Core of Engineers came in and straightened the Rio Grande and put in all those levies. As a result, since the river can’t flood itself at all, the Bosque is dying. So we have all these species dying, a great big fire hazard, and all because they messed with the beavers.
