A night with Culture Clash

It's funny how life takes you down different paths and it's interesting to think about who you could have been. Last night, I watched a Chicano acting group named Culture Clash put on a series of skits about what it means to be American. The last time I'd seen the group perform was at UC Berkeley as an undergrad. At the time, I played around with the idea of trying out for a similar group. My girlfriend at the time was all for it.

"You make people laugh. I think you'd be a natural for it."

"I think people would be laughing at me, not with me. And I haven't acted since high school," I said, but I remained tempted by the idea. I made a mental note to look into the try out.

"Just don't let them know you voted for Reagan!" she added sarcastically. It wasn't true that I'd voted for Reagan(I was 13!), but having grown up in a small family business I did tend to be a bit more conservative than my friends.

As a student at Berkeley, I was drawn to the provocative and enjoyed watching a theater that made me think about society. I've always like to have my opinions challenged. I also loved the idea of possibly being a part of something similar to Culture Clash, but I ended up involved in local politics and never followed up on the acting.

Some eighteen years later, I remembered this as I walked into the theater to see Culture Clash.

An interminable two hours later, I found myself wishing that anyone but the actors on stage had tried out for Culture Clash. Their performance was, to say the least, less than provocative. One bit made fun of the different way that Latinos from different countries dance. Another bit, in the age of Will and Grace, made the shocking point that some Latinos are gay.

I was tempted to stick around for the 'question and answer' to ask where the revolution went. What happened to the radical guys that I watched in college?

I guess Culture Clash lost its bite as it's actors aged and got mortgages.

Maybe they would have been better off with a guy that voted for Reagan?