Guac: My Son, My Hero

Guac: My Son, My Hero is a social justice theater piece telling the story of Manuel and Patricia Oliver in the year following their son’s murder in the Parkland shooting.

Manuel, a painter and visual artist, and his wife, Patricia, have dedicated their lives since their son’s murder to campaigning for gun law reform through their organization, Change the Ref. Manny’s work, including creating large-scale public art pieces, has generated worldwide attention, and Guac: My Son, My Hero is his latest protest project. Like all his work, its core motivation is ensuring other young Americans do not lose their lives, like his son did. As Manuel states, “I lost my son. My son did not lose his father.”

Guac combines elements of stand-up comedy, testimony theater, video, installation art, and live painting to create an intimate, hilarious, devastating, and loving picture of a 17-year-old boy named Joaquin, who immigrated with his family from Venezuela to the United States, for a safer life.