San Francisco International Arts Festival, Central American Resource Center & Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Present
the world premiere of
Ric Salinas of Culture Clash in "PLACAS: the Most Dangerous Tattoo"
A Play by Paul S. Flores
Directed by
Michael John Garcés
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Also starring Cristina Frias, Sarita Ocon, Juan Parada, Luis "Xago" Juarez and Ricky Saenz.
Salvadoran immigrant Fausto Carbajal (played by Salinas), a now middle-aged ex-gang member is released after nine years in prison. As a requirement of his parole Fausto must remove the tattoos that mark him as a member of his gang. Wearied by what has been a lifetime of violence, he accepts the terms. He is determined to reunite his family, traumatized by three decades of war, forced migrations and street crime. He returns to San Francisco to live with his mother, a war refugee, and hopes to re-unite with his ex-partner, Claudia and their now teenaged son, Edgar. But Edgar, who has not seen his father for most of his life, resents Fausto and displays disturbing character traits that remind Fausto of himself in his youth. It is clear that the reunion will be a difficult one.
PLACAS (barrio slang: a code word for graffiti tags, a nickname or body tattoos) is a stage drama about family, transformation and redemption that focuses on a Salvadoran former gang member in the barrio of SF trying to reclaim his family while letting go of his past. Set in today's San Francisco, it explores the benefits and risks of tattoo removal for gang members thru one man's determination to
reunite his family after surviving civil war in El Salvador, immigration, deportation, prison and street violence.
PLACAS focuses on inter-generational relationships between young men and their fathers and uses the metaphor of tattoo removal as a way of moving forward and as a path to a possible solution.
Over three years in the making, PLACAS was developed through research in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and El Salvador. Paul Flores and tele-journalist Josue Rojas interviewed nearly 100 people including gang members, law enforcement officers, staff people in the criminal justice system, social workers, families and victims of gang violence. We thank everybody for sharing their stories. It is their words that made PLACAS possible.
Although it ultimately tells a harrowing story, PLACAS (like life) is also tinged with moments of humor.
Four nationally respected Latino arts organizations (MACLA, Su Teatro, Pregones Theatre Company and GALA Theatre) are co-commissioning the play through the National Performance Network with CARECEN. Funding has also been received from National Endowment for the Arts, San Francisco Arts Commission, Columbia Foundation, Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, California Arts Council, Puffin Foundation and the Creative Work Fund: A program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, supported by ArtPlace, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation. The producers thank these organizations for their support and faith in the project.
