A state with as much mystery and history as Arizona is bound to have its share of interesting residents. As a political boundary, it’s only been in existence for about a century, but there are people who have lived here for 300 generations or more. Everyone has a story, and one of theater’s great challenges is to figure out how to tell each one in just the right way. In this part of the world, it’s complex because there are so many identities here, and so many people who pass through for one reason or another.
There are stories of real estate moguls, outlaw cowboys, defiant go-go dancers, and an endless chain of workers who each have incredible worlds living inside of them. It’s impossible to tell them all, but people like Marcelino Qui ±onez take it upon themselves to try.
Although it’s important to point out that, if asked, he would be the first to deny that claim of taking it upon himself. More than most artists of his generation, he is very quick to mention the long line of inspirations and ancestors that took him from Durango to Phoenix, where he does most of his current work.
The winner of the performance category for this year’s New Times Big Brain Winners will mention that it was James Garcia, a collaborator in art, who nominated him for the award. He didn’t get it himself, and no matter how much he’s pressed to recognize his individual achievements, he still has another name of someone who pushed him toward the present.
He’s performed some very dense roles, working at places like the Actor’s Theatre and other local venues, producing works about people who need to be inhabited in a live art. Heroes like Van Gogh, Bobby Kennedy, and Che Guevara, have all come under his artistic gaze.
One does get the sense of being in the presence of a real artist when he’s around. Cool and piercing, his stare is fixed on some point in the past or future, an injustice, or a moment of hope, but the ready smile announces that he is here in the present. In a state where the climate brings people to luxury hotels, Arizona also has a climate for great art, because there are great artists pushing the limits and making it possible for the next generation to remember what it was like to be here.
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