California: The Tempest – East Salinas

California: The Tempest

East Salinas, Kern County

Photo by Lillian Ribeiro.

This neighborhood, popularly known as Alisal, is a dense, vibrant, working class, neighborhood of immigrant families and has a strong identity separate from that of Salinas. With a population of approximately 32,000, most workers are employed in the agricultural, food processing and hospitality industries. Local crops include lettuce, strawberries, tomatoes, spinach and other greens. Nearly one-third of Alisal’s residents are children and many families live in cramped conditions. There is history of gang violence as well as passionate activism here. Beautiful murals can be found all over town and the Alisal Center for the Fine Arts is a local organization where artists mentor the next generation.

*NOTE: NEW PERFORMANCE DATES

Plumas Negras, 2013. Photo by Kevin Michael Campbell.

Performs February 19, 20 & 21, 2015.
Indoors at Los Padres School
1130 John St., East Salinas, CA 93905
(View Map)

7:00pm Curtain. Plenty of parking.

Tickets are Pay-What-You-Can (Suggested donation $10)
Seating is limited. Call to reserve your seats: 1-800-578-1335

Local Partners:
The Vineyard Church of Salinas
Hijos del Sol

Plumas Negras, 2013. Photo by Kevin Michael Campbell.

Of all the towns on our tour, Alisal is the most recent previous residency. In 2013, our 10^th Institute Summer Residency produced Plumas Negras a play written by Juliette Carrillo and directed by Michael John Garcés. The story of the play was of three generations of women in one family and the struggles unique to Latinas agricultural workers, and was layered with an indigenous poetry of ordinary, mythic crows. The play was in both Spanish and English. We had support from both Vineyard Church in Alisal and Salinas Valley Community Church in North Salinas that made the residency possible. Alisal Center for the Fine Arts was a partner as well and served as the performance venue. The play included 27 residents in the cast of 39. The approximately 600 audience members were treated to original large scale paintings by local artist José Ortiz in the lobby.