Castillo Returns to Theater Roots With "Soul Sacrifice," Exploring Chicano War Experiences
"Soul Sacrifice" features standout performances from Itzel Ocampo, Karla Ojeda, David Flores, and Martin Morales.
“Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die. And it is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow, and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.”
Former president Herbert Hoover said this in 1944 when young Americans were dying in World War 2. But it is a timeless truth that applies in every nation and every epoch.
The Second World War was an incredibly painful conflict, but the young men who fought it came back home to be honored as heroes. This would not be true for many of those who fought for the United States in the armed conflicts that were to follow. Especially Vietnam, a war that divided the country and shattered an entire generation.
We have heard many of the tragic stories from the Vietnam War. But we have rarely seen how the devastating conflict impacted the lives of Latinos and Chicanos - until now.
The Vietnam War
In Soul Sacrifice, a play currently running at the Casa 101 Theater in Boyle Heights, we are given a chance to see how the Vietnam War impacted one Chicano family and the long-term tragedy that it left in its wake.
Written by playwright Consuelo G. Flores and directed by Kenneth Castillo, it is a heart-wrenching work that transcends cultural and generational divides. And it uncovers the often-forgotten history of Latino soldiers in Vietnam and the struggles of war protestors from the Chicano community back at home.
The play follows the Flores family in the 1960s and 1970s, whose simple world is turned upside down by a conflict in Southeast Asia that is far removed from their daily struggles as working-class Mexican immigrants to the United States.
Bookended by the funeral of one of the family members, the play flashes back to a happier time when 9-year-old Connie spends her afternoons reading the newspaper to her father Jose, who works at a slaughterhouse to provide for his devoutly religious wife Guadelupe and their older children.
Rachel, a teenage girl who is more interested in building a family with her first love than in going to college as her mother wants for her. Ben, who is an idealistic youth that dreams of becoming a lawyer and fighting for immigrant rights. And Luis, a good-hearted boy that is dedicated to being the glue that holds the family together.
Lives Upended
But their normal lives are upended when Luis is drafted and sent to Vietnam, where he endures horrific tragedies that leave him emotionally scarred. While Luis fights overseas, Ben joins the battle at home as activist groups rally Chicano immigrants to protest a war that is seeing a disproportionate number of casualties among its brown and black soldiers.
The intense politicization of the conflict threatens to tear the family apart, with Jose opposing Ben’s activism even as Guadelupe prays fervently for Luis to come home alive and in one piece.
Luis does return physically whole, but he is psychologically damaged and suffering from PTSD which makes him prone to violent and unpredictable behavior that soon threatens the safety of his loved ones. Luis is forced to choose between staying at home with his frightened family, or running away for their own safety.
And his choices forever change the once happy Flores home.
A Powerful Play
The show is a powerful and intimate look at the devastation that war leaves in the hearts and minds of those who return from the battlefield, and may be difficult to watch for those whose own families have been torn apart by recent conflicts in the Middle East.
But it is exactly because those conflicts are happening again right now that Soul Sacrifice is a desperately needed examination of what may be facing those who are about to enter the latest cycle of Abel and Cain, where brother kills brother.
Playwright Flores’s haunting script is based on her own family’s experiences, and the authenticity shows in the dialogue and emotional impact of the story. Castillo’s directing is top notch, with the play feeling kinetic even on a small stage in Boyle Heights. And his casting choices are superb. Every single actor felt like the perfect person for the role.
I especially admired Martin Morales, whose performance as Jose alternates from affectionate, to humorous, to imperious and proud – the full range of a man who suffers regular humiliation as a Mexican immigrant while refusing to let his dignity be sacrificed even as he spends his days toiling to feed his family.
As the son of an immigrant father who went through many of the same struggles, Morales made me remember my late dad and tear up several times.
I strongly encourage people of all backgrounds and ages to go see Soul Sacrifice. Sadly, its message of surviving the brutality of war and its aftermath is needed just as much today as it was sixty years ago.
And this play will haunt you and make you think long after the curtain falls.
Soul Sacrifice runs this weekend until June 21st. You can get tickets here.
Written by Kamran Pasha and Latino Slant.
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