Ideas, Practices, Bright Spots

San Francisco by Sean San José

January 17, 2012 | BY HowlRound

That is what San Francisco is to me. That same Barbary Coast Port City—every version through the centuries and generations. Call it the City, the Sco, Sucka Free City—it is this same vibe that has us mixing, migrating, moving farrr west, left coast leaning, and on the edge of the States- cuz that’s what we do.

“If you ain’t living on the edge, you’re taking up too much damn space.”

And through the years—we wildly, willingly keep digging for gold and… stuff.

I am proud to be born in San Francisco, but also pushed up by all the movements, madness, families, and flavors that seek this city out—and keep this place always alive.

You must do an archeological dig through this all to have a real talk about “the scene” here. For we are without one scene, but doing our own things; we are not just a “theater” community, we are trailblazing. (wild wild west). People want to make things their own way here—food, wine, murals, graffiti, rhymes, LiteraryMusicVisual. All the City’s legends lead to creating a theater that is not “just” theater—but is performance, events, everything. I think things here are creations first—it includes theater, but the walls were broken down long ago.

Wasn’t “Howl” made history by the reading here? Wasn’t “Soul On Ice” made public from the event at City Lights Books? Weren’t the Mime Troup launched in Golden Gate Park, with rock impresario Bill Graham presenting? And so were born the likes of Ntozake Shange and Jessica Hagedorn. (All these, I pull out the sky—they are everywhere in the City). From all this comes theater fueled by the minor miracles made massive by people who just did—and out of it people called it theater: Rhodessa Jones, Idris Ackamoor & Cultural Odyssey, Joe Goode Performance Group, Culture Clash. And with that we never had to look at theater as only one thing, but a merging of many things. What other city could birth this? It is why we have Stanley Williams/Quentin Easter’s Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, Asian American Theatre Company, Teatro de la Esperanza, Bindlestiff, Living Word. Not ‘just’ theater companies—but cultural institutions that REFLECT our City.

That is how our small group—Campo Santo—got the idea that people could come together and tell stories that reflect the world we live in—that look like the street it’s on, that are part of the community.

As the heart of Campo Santo, Luis Saguar said: tell some of the untold stories—the lady at the corner store and the kid in Valencia Gardens Projects.

This desire to tell stories came alive by being part of San Francisco. A home for these stories and people. A place for relationships that transcend borders—the way we believe in theater that transcends boundaries.

And we are all—loud and proud—part of San Francisco.

I only wish we were as proud about marking this history as we are about making it—so you could see everywhere, not just feel it in this City.