Bilingual Bard: How UTEP Professor Jay Stratton is Reimagining Classics in the Borderland
October 2024
By Anna Carrillo, '19, '21
Professor Jay Stratton’s journey from Seattle to New York and finally to the Borderland is nothing short of fascinating. Unlike many traditional actors, Stratton didn’t discover his passion for acting until college.
“I was studying Finance at the University of Washington and needed some electives, so I signed up for an acting class,” Stratton recalled. “At first, it was just fun, but soon I saw how passionate and competitive my theatre classmates were, and I wanted to be a part of that environment.”
After spending 20 years immersed in New York’s vibrant theatre scene, Stratton discovered his true calling as a teacher and accepted a position at UTEP.
“I’d never visited El Paso before, but I quickly fell in love with the city. Within a month of being here, I had so many enriching cultural experiences.”
Having adapted works like Bloody Shakespeare, A Christmas Carol en la Frontera, and most recently, The Taming of the Shrew for this year’s Shakespeare Festival, I asked Professor Stratton how he approaches adaptation, particularly when adding fresh, bilingual elements to classic stories.
“We often associate the classics with places like England, Rome, or Athens,” Stratton explained. “At UTEP, with 83% of our students being Hispanic, there’s not always a cultural connection to those stories. Our first attempt at a bilingual adaptation was A Christmas Carol en la Frontera. We asked ourselves, ‘How can we make it so our audience can see themselves in these stories?’”
Rather than presenting productions that felt distant, set in a world far from El Paso, Stratton and his team aimed to make these classics feel accessible to the local community.
“There’s nothing wrong with telling stories from England, but it can feel remote. So we thought, ‘Why not set it right here on the border?’ In our first year, we included just a touch of Spanish, and audiences loved it. By the second year, we added more, and now, in our third year, I’d say about 25% of the dialogue is in Spanish.”
Stratton acknowledged that adapting Shakespeare, with its famously beautiful language, is a challenging and time-consuming process, particularly when balancing the bilingual aspect. But for him, it’s worth the effort.
“Shakespeare’s language is part of its beauty, so translating that while condensing the plays from three hours to 90 minutes is tricky. But incorporating bilingual elements ensures that every person in El Paso feels invited and welcome.”
This year, the organization surpassed its $3,000 fundraising goal through UTEP’s Pick-A-Project Campaign. I asked Stratton: if budget constraints weren’t a concern, what would his dream vision be for the UTEP Theatre Program and the Madeline Park Shakespeare Festival?
“For the Theatre Department, I hope I’m equipping my students with the tools to succeed in the professional field. There’s a real demand right now in the industry for Latinx stories and performers. The moment is ripe, and we need to take advantage of it. The barriers have never been lower, and I want to see UTEP students entering the professional world and making an impact. Ten years from now, I’d love to see UTEP graduates consistently accepted into top conservatory programs like Juilliard, Yale, and NYU. My dream is for UTEP to become the premier undergraduate theatre program for Latinx performers.”
As for the Madeline Park Shakespeare Festival, Stratton has big aspirations.
“I’d love to see the festival expand to three weekends with two productions: one serious play and one comedy. The festival is already very family-friendly, but I’d like to create a stronger educational component, like a Camp Shakespeare, where kids could learn about the plays and even be incorporated into the performances.” He also shared exciting plans to build a stage for next year’s festival.
Finally, I asked Professor Stratton if there was one piece of advice he received early on that still resonates with him today.
“Simple: ‘Do every audition you possibly can.’ I also worked with an actor who told me, ‘Try to do one thing every day to build your career, whether that’s auditioning, submitting for roles, or updating your resume.’”
That’s something we can all apply to our own lives.
To discover more about the Madeline Park Shakespeare Festival, in partnership with UTEP and Eden Performing Arts, click here.
Anna Carrillo ’19, ’21, born and raised in El Paso, Texas, is a proud graduate of The University of Texas at El Paso, where she earned her bachelor’s in business marketing and a master's degree in leadership studies. With a strong belief in the power of leadership to bring about positive change and commitment to community service, Anna's current role as the Stewardship Manager at El Pasoans Fighting Hunger Food Bank allows her to engage and serve the community.
To learn more about Anna and our other Miner Nation Contributors, click here.