Performing in both English and Spanish, El Teatro Campesino was founded in 1965 as the cultural arm of the United Farm Workers and the Chicano Movement with the "full support of César Chávez.

Currently, El Teatro Campesino's mission is “…to create a popular art with 21st century tools that presents a more just and accurate account of human history, while encouraging the young women and men of a new generation to take control of their own destiny through creative discipline, vibrant education, economic independence, and artistic excellence.”[2] Luis Valdez, along with Agustin Lira (Teatro de la Tierra), founded the troupe.

After attending San Jose State University and working briefly with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Luis Valdez met Agustin Lira,a local Chicano with theatrical experience who had already hit upon the idea of using theater as an organizing tool in the fields and was already involved in the United Farmworkers Union in Delano.

"[3] Teatro Campesino's early performances drew on varied traditions, such as commedia dell'arte, Spanish religious dramas adapted for teaching Mission Indians, Mexican folk humor, a century-old tradition of Mexican performances in California, and Aztec and Maya sacred ritual dramas.

In 1973 they worked with British theater director Peter Brook; in 1976 they toured the play La Carpa through Europe, sponsored by the U.S. State Department.