The image of a grieving parent is not an uncommon sight on the dramatic stage. Euripides, whom Aristotle called \u201cthe most tragic of the poets,\u201d returns to the figure of the grief-stricken parent in \u201cHecuba,\u201d \u201cHippolytus\u201d and \u201cThe Bacchae,\u201d to cite just a few disparate examples of characters brought to their knees by the death of their child.<\/p>\n
Shakespeare offers what has become the defining portrait of this inconsolable experience in \u201cKing Lear.\u201d Cradling the lifeless body of his murdered daughter, Lear can do nothing but repeat the word \u201cnever\u201d five times, the repetition driving home the irrevocable nature of loss.<\/p>\n
In tragedy, the protagonist is often plagued by guilt for his own role, however inadvertent or inescapable, in the catastrophe that befell his loved one. Theseus in \u201cHippolytus\u201d and Agave in \u201cThe Bacchae\u201d both have reason to feel that they have blood on their hands. Lear, though \u201cmore sinned against than sinning,\u201d recognizes only after it\u2019s too late the error in judgment that led to the devastation from which there can be no return.<\/p>\n
The difference with \u201cGuac,\u201d the one-man performance work at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, is that Manuel Oliver isn\u2019t just playing a bereaved father. He is one.<\/p>\n
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Manuel Oliver in \u201cGuac.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Cameron Whitman)<\/p>\n
Oliver\u2019s 17-year-old son, Joaqu\u00edn, known as Guac to family and friends, was one of the 17 lives lost in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The production, written and performed by Oliver, turns a parent\u2019s grief into a theatrical work of activism. <\/p>\n
Co-written by James Clements and directed by Michael Cotey, \u201cGuac\u201d has been sharing the story of Joaqu\u00edn\u2019s short but vividly lived life with audiences around the country. Oliver didn\u2019t just love his son. He liked him. Guac was his best friend. He was also his trusted guide to American culture.<\/p>\n
Immigrants from Venezuela, the family had made a new start in a country that Guac helped them feel was their home. To convey the meaning of Guac\u2019s life, Oliver introduces his family members through a series of photo images he has crafted into artworks.<\/p>\n
The last picture, and the one that remains staring at us throughout the performance, is of Guac. Oliver continues to enhance the portrait. While adding flourishes to the background and making adjustments to what his son is wearing, he tells us about the life they shared before it was tragically stolen.<\/p>\n
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Manuel Oliver works on a portrait of his late son in \u201cGuac.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Donna F. Aceto)<\/p>\n
The tragedy is overwhelmingly real. Oliver bears the weight of it by transforming his grief into fuel for activism. The performance makes the case for stricter gun law in America with the heartbreaking eloquence of a father whose life changed permanently after dropping his son off at school on a Valentine\u2019s Day that started so promisingly. <\/p>\n
What happened to Joaqu\u00edn could happen to any of us, anytime, anywhere, in a country that has allowed its elected officials to deflect responsibility for their repeated failure to pass common sense gun legislation. While taking money from the NRA, these cynical politicians offer empty \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d in place of meaningful reform. The result is that no one can go anywhere in public without eyeing the emergency exits and scanning the crowd for trouble. <\/p>\n
Oliver isn\u2019t a polished theatrical professional. He\u2019s a dad, first and foremost. But it\u2019s his comfortable ordinariness that allows him to make such a powerful connection with the audience. He\u2019s onstage but could very well be exchanging a few neighborly words with us on our street. <\/p>\n
Oliver summons his son by joyfully remembering his virtuosity on air guitar. Lynyrd Skynyrd\u2019s \u201cFree Bird\u201d resounds throughout the Douglas while he enlivens the portrait with impassioned strokes. The words \u201cI wish I was here\u201d are added to Guac\u2019s T-shirt, and it\u2019s a sentiment we all devoutly, agonizingly share as Oliver brings his wife, Patricia, onto a stage that has urgently become an extension of our national reality.<\/p>\n
In honor of Joaqu\u00edn, the couple formed Change the Ref, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about mass shootings and empowering the next generation of activists through \u201ccreativity, activism, disruption and education.\u201d \u201cGuac\u201d is a potent example of what can be done in the wake of a tragedy that can no longer be described as unthinkable. <\/p>\n
‘Guac’<\/p>\n
Where: Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City<\/p>\n
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 1 p.m. Sundays. No show on Halloween, Friday, Oct. 31. An additional show for closing night, 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2<\/p>\n
Tickets: Start at $34.50 <\/p>\n