To Agustin Lira, theater isn't just entertainment. It's a teaching tool. This Chicano theater icon, who now runs a Fresno company called Teatro Inmigrante along with collaborator Patricia Wells Solorzano, is heavily influenced by the tradition of the actos -- short sketches that could be performed in the fields -- that played such an important role in Cesar Chavez's farmworker movement in the turbulent 1960s.

For the Rogue Festival, Lira's company presents two of these short plays: Honest Sancha's Used Mexican Lot and The Two Faces of the Boss. They've been updated to reflect present-day issues, but the plays also have the heft of history behind them. Witty and fiercely political, Lira pointedly takes on such issues as racism, ethnic stereotypes and the current war in Iraq. It's well worth a trip down Van Ness Avenue to Arte Americas to experience a type of theater that wants to stretch your mind.

The strongest of the two plays is "Honest Sancha's," which has a knockout of a premise: An aide (played by Zaidee Stavely) to Gov. Schwarzenegger needs to find a figurehead Mexican for the administration in Sacramento. She turns to a "Used Mexican Lot" that sells various "models" much as you might shop for a car. There's the traditional hard-working immigrant, the young soldier, the fiery revolutionary, the novela superstar, the gang-influenced school girl and the "assimilated" Hispanic. The proprietor of the lot, Sancha La Honesta (nicely played by Rosemary Montes), turns each model on for the governor's aide and tries to sell each one. Housing for the immigrant? No problem; they can fit six or seven to a room. Need someone as cannon fodder? The soldier is for you.

Lira has a knack for combining crowd-appealing humor and harsh criticism of the system at large. Though it isn't the most polished theater piece you'll see in the Rogue, it has the kind of heart and passion that can really connect with an audience.

"The Two Faces of the Boss" is another sketch from the original farmworker movement updated to present day. A worker named Pedro (Merlinda Espinosa, who has both a wonderful singing voice and a strong stage presence) squares off against the wealthy boss (Jose Luis Barraza), who gleefully explains that his grandfather "worked his ass off" for his land, which he inherited. It's interesting to update the play by using a woman to play the role of the farmworker; the injection of gender adds a whole new level.

A bonus: Lira, who received an NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award in 2007 for his music, plays several songs with Wells and Espinosa. It's a nice way to book-end this provocative evening of theater.

Playing: 7 p.m. Friday 3/7, 7 p.m. Saturday 3/8 at Arte Americas, 1630 N. Van Ness Ave. Cost: $10. Rating: PG-13.