by Deborah Rogin directed by Stanley Spenger

On September 11, 1973, the legitimate government of Chile was overthrown by a military Coup d'etat. The presidential palace at La Moneda was bombarded and the democratically elected President, Salvador Allende, was assassinated. Thousands of Chilean people were subsequently tortured and killed either in the streets or in Nazi-like concentration camps. Victor Jara, one of Chile's best known folk singers, was among them. As the months and years passed, a legend grew surrounding his death as he became a symbol of the horrors which innocent people were suffering at the hands of the Junta. This play is a fictional account of the aftermath of the coup in Chile, as seen through the eyes of two very different, but closely connected, casualties.


Victor Jara was our first original work. It chronicled the mythologized death of the real Chilean folksinger through the eyes of an unhinged supporter and his equally unhinged interrogator. The highlight of this production was meeting someone who knew Victor Jara before his assassination, who volunteered to play and sing Chilean folksongs before our final performance.

Lance Brady as Raphael
Patrick Dooley as Paul

Stanley Spenger, director
Michael Storm, assistant director
Isabelle Rogin, stage manager
Michael Dooley, set construction
Michael Frassinelli, prop master
Rich Reinholdt, publicity
Leda Dederich, photography
Patrick Dooley, artistic director

Opened: Saturday, January 14, 1995
Performed: Thursaday, Friday & Saturday at 8:00 pm
Performed At: La Val's Subterranean Theatre, 1834 Euclid Avenue, Berkeley
Closed: February 11, 1995

Steven Winn for SF Chronicle