Outdoor theater makes Mission District heroes, history real in the actual streets – SF Chronicle Datebook

Paul S. Flores goes over a new part as Vanessa Sanchez listens during the rehearsal of Flores documentary theater performance that pays homage to artists, activists and leaders of the Mission at La Brava Theater. Photo: Amy Osborne / Special to The Chronicle

Two years ago, Paul S. Flores sat down to talk with feminist Chicana artist Yolanda Lpez. He was brainstorming ways to incorporate historical events into Paseo Artstico, a free bimonthly art walk he has coordinated since 2018 with the nonprofit Accin Latina.

His visit to the artists Mission District home turned out to be more than a conversation. Flores recalls bringing her a cup of coffee, and then taking her to a clinic appointment, at Lpezs request, at San Francisco General Hospital.

It feels like it was just yesterday, Flores, a poet and playwright, told The Chronicle, tearing up on a recent Wednesday. This was the first time I really had intimate time with her.

Lpez, known for her paintings that reimagine the Virgin of Guadalupe as a feminist superhero and her political posters in the 1970s and 80s, would meet with Flores about four more times over the next two years. But in September, she died of cancer. She was 79 years old.

On Oct. 23, viewers will get to experience some of what Flores learned from Lpez in the latest Paseo Artstico event, History Matters in the Mission, a documentary-theater performance inspired by the late artist and dedicated to her. Flores wrote the play and is featuredin several roles.

Using archival material from the Latino bilingual newspaper El Tecolote and contemporary interviews, the play will also pay homage to four other local artists and activists in addition to Lpez artist Michael Ros, journalist Juan Gonzales, and playwrights Joan Holden and Carlos Barn. Performers will re-enact and interpret events from the late 1960s and 70s that helped bring the Mission District what it is known for today: its historic murals and culture as well as its Latino activism.

Nine performances are scheduled between noon and 6 p.m. at different locations along 24th Street between York and Mission streets. The event aims to serve as a mini-historic tour of the area, Flores said.

The show is designed to be both loud and political, with giant puppets, a live band playing on the bed of a truck, and elements used in radical street theater, such as a cranky, a moving painted illustration. Used as a backdrop, it displays the opposite of what the person is talking about on stage, Flores explained. It points out the lies and the truths.

During Flores first meeting with Lpez in 2019, the artist pointed him to the book Restaging the Sixties: Radical Theaters and Their Legacies, by James M. Harding and Cindy Rosenthal. It examines the radical theater movement from that period and its role in political activism. Two companies born in those times the San Francisco Mime Troupe and El Teatro Campesino from San Juan Bautista (San Benito County) are featured in the book.

She was like, Paul, you should do a piece about how the Board of Supervisors and the mayor are fighting over how to deal with the homeless, but nothings happening with the homeless. But do a street theater piece and let people know that their leaders are taking them in (the) wrong direction, with the homelessness crisis, Paul recalled Lpez telling him.

She was very keen on what was happening in city politics, he added.

Dancer and choreographer Vanessa Sanchez is familiar with outdoor performances. Sanchez is the founder of the dance company La Mezcla, which blends tap dance, the son jarocho music of Mexico and Afro-Caribbean rhythms with the mission of bringing the often unseen histories and experiences of communities of color to stages, streets and fields, according to its website.

But Flores play will be Sanchezs first time acting in front of a crowd. She will play the role of Lpez.

Im excited, but Im nervous, said Sanchez, who also did the plays choreography. I always say Id rather answer a question by dancing it, so having to learn and memorize words is a little nerve-racking for me. But (Im) also honored in the sense that I will be portraying Yolanda Lpez.

In one of her monologues, Sanchez talks about some of Lpezs most famous works: the Guadalupe and Tableaux Vivant series, in which she redefined the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe and aimed to elevate Latina women by using depictions of herself, her mother and grandmother. In one of her works, Lpezs mother is painted sewing the Virgin Marys blue mantle.

Lpezs art is something thats always spoken to me, said Sanchez, who identifies as Chicana and Native American. The second I read the words that were to be recited for this section, I was immediately moved and immediately saw and felt the choreography (and) the music that would accompany it.

Another person being celebrated in the play is Gonzales, the founder of El Tecolote, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

When Flores sat down to interview the 74-year-old journalist, he wanted to learn about the biggest story Gonzales had worked on in the 1970s.

Flores, who will play Gonzales in his production, will focus on El Tecolotes 1977 investigation into the lack of medical interpreters at San Francisco General Hospital after a pregnant woman tried to get care and ended up losing her baby when no one understood what she was saying. Their coverage resulted in hospital officials creating a bilingual unit with 26 interpreters, according to Accin Latina.

There were a lot of issues at that time, a lot of things going on in the neighborhood, that werent being written about by the major papers, and there was very little neighborhood-based media at that time, recalled Gonzales, who started the newspaper while teaching a course called La Raza Journalism at San Francisco State University.

Gonzales, who now chairs the journalism department at City College of San Francisco, said El Tecolotes coverage also helped establish the modern Mission Districts identity by profiling artists, community members and cultural institutions that helped create a sense of pride among its residents.

Yes, theres still some issues, still some challenges, he said, but overall they feel good about this (being) their neighborhood, and the paper reflects that.

Flores hopes his play reflects that, too. He said hes wants to teach the tech and social media-raised generation the history of the Mission District.

I thought, What are we doing now with our art to educate people? What are we sharing with them that can educate them about where they come from and who they are?

History Matters in the Mission: Outdoor documentary theater performance. Noon-6 p.m. Oct. 23. Starting at the Balmy Alley murals at 50 Balmy St., S.F. Free. Masks are required. http://www.paseoartistico.org

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Outdoor theater makes Mission District heroes, history real in the actual streets - SF Chronicle Datebook