I Don't Have to Show You No Stinking Badges

by Luis Valdez

This play focuses on a middle-aged Chicano couple who have made their living as “King and Queen of the Hollywood Extras,” playing non-speaking roles as maids, gardeners and the like. The couple have been very successful, having put their daughter through medical school and their son into Harvard. They have, in effect, accomplished the American Dream, with a suburban home complete with swimming pool, family room and microwave. The major conflict arises when Sonny, alienated from the Ivy League reality, comes home from Harvard unexpectedly and announces that he has dropped-out. To make matters worse, he decides he will become a Hollywood actor. His parents, his girlfriend and the audience know his fate will be the same as his parents’, playing “on the hyphen” in bit parts as thieves, drug addicts and rapists. Or will he? Like Zoot Suit, I Don’t Have to Show You No Stinking Badges! does not give a distinct ending, but rather, leaves the solution up to the audience members to decide.

Paperback

Published January 1, 1992

About the author

Luis Valdez is an American playwright, writer and film director.

He is regarded as the father of Chicano theater in the United States.