What do you do when you lose a son? In Manuel Oliver’s GUAC, performed at 1st Stage’s Logan Festival, Oliver attempts to answer this question and raise awareness for gun violence protection. In this heart-wrenching one-man show, Oliver, father of 2018 Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver, celebrates, grieves, loves, remembers, and ultimately delivers a powerful call to action.
When Oliver enters the stage, wearing a shirt proclaiming “Just F***ing Vote,” it’s obvious from the get-go that it’s about to get political. What follows is a piece of political theater with the power to change hearts, minds, and policy. Oliver introduces his family, represented as lifesize pictures of their likenesses, one by one until he gets to his late son, Joaquin. Guac, he explains, is the nickname his son was bestowed by his friends when they immigrated from Venezuela to Parkland, Florida. Heartbreakingly, Oliver proclaims that this is “the closest he can [now] get to a family picture.”
Oliver continues to explore all of the “magic moments” he experienced with his son before he passed. He explains their experiences as immigrants in America, how Guac loved the country so very much, and how the Olivers moved because they would do anything for their children. While the audience knows that this piece will ultimately end in tragedy, Oliver conveys the love and pure joy he felt as a father. Oliver commands the audience to fall hopelessly in love with Guac, despite never knowing him, and masterfully builds a full portrait of the young man he loves. He delivers a beautiful anecdote about his and his son’s shared love of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird,” particularly its guitar solo, a joyous moment that comes back to haunt the piece in a bittersweet way.
The show is aided by Oliver’s artwork, as he paints a mural around the photograph of his son throughout the play. He starts abstractly, painting with Frank Ocean’s rendition of “Moon River” crooning in the background, and at first, it is not clear what he is painting. However, as the rest of the story unfolds, Oliver adds to the painting, finishing it in the very last moments of the piece. While I do not want to spoil this final image, I will say that it is a painting that will not soon leave me. The artwork not only acts as an expression of Oliver’s grief but keeps the audience hooked and hungry to see what will next be unveiled.
Michael Cotey’s direction is well-paced and impactful. A standout moment is when Oliver describes the shooting itself, transforming himself into his son at this moment. Here, the space changes, sirens blare, the lights dim, and we are transported to this place of pure terror as Oliver attempts to imagine what his son must’ve been feeling in this fateful moment. Here, Cotey and Oliver were able to create a moment of impressive immersion for a one-man play — they create a space that is so much bigger and more full than Oliver himself.
Additionally, the script is a beautiful mix of joy, love, light, tragedy, and inspiration. Co-written by Oliver and James Clements, it hooks the audience with the promise of political discussion, endears us to the family at the center of it all, and then crushes our hearts into a million pieces. At the end of all of this, it does not simply let go either but rather explains to the audience, without being preachy or condescending, what they can do if they feel moved by this.
The play is always a conversation with the audience and encourages them to participate. At one particularly powerful part in the show, Oliver stops his performance and asks the audience to take out their phones and call a loved one. Here Oliver compels the audience to think about their loved ones and place themselves in his shoes, a powerful move that will leave audiences remembering to tell people they love them long after the show’s run time.
GUAC is an important and powerful piece of political theater, a testament to joy and life, and a beautiful portrait of a father’s love transcending the boundaries of a lifetime.
Running Time: 90 minutes.
The Logan Festival of Solo Performance runs through July 28, 2024, at 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Road, Tysons, VA, with the remaining performances of each show as follows:
Fly Me to the Sun: Tuesday, July 23 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 5:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 8:00pm
Too Fat for China: Wednesday, July 24 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 8:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 2:00pm
GUAC: Thursday, July 25 at 7:30pm, Friday, July 26 at 7:30pm, Saturday, July 27 at 2:00pm, Sunday, July 28 at 5:00pm
General admission tickets are $20 per show and $10 per show for students with valid ID.
Individual tickets can be purchased online at www.1stStage.org or by calling the 1st Stage box office at 703-854-1856 or by emailing the box office at boxoffice@1ststage.org.
SEE ALSO:
1st Stage announces 2024/25 season (July 4, 2024 news story, includes overview of 2024 Logan Festival of Solo Performance)