Saturday, August 3rd, marks the fifth anniversary of the mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Wal Mart in El Paso, where 23 people died and 22 others were injured. This weekend, the play “Acts of Kindness: The El Paso Play”, will be performed at the El Paso Museum of Art to commemorate that anniversary. Scott Brocato spoke with its playwright, Gregory Ramos, about the play, which is based on conversations he had with El Paso residents a few months after the tragedy.
Scott Brocato:
Where were you when you first heard about the mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Mall Walmart shooting five years ago?
Gregory Ramos:
Well, at the time I was living in Vermont, and a very good friend of mine in El Paso called me at to ask if I had heard the news. I hadn't heard the news because I'm not...I'm not usually one to absorb the regular news, like nightly news and that sort of thing. So she called me. And then, of course, I started tuning into all the regular news outlets to find out what had happened.
Scott Brocato:
And what were some of your initial feelings when you did find out, and it started to sink in?
Gregory Ramos:
Well, you know, I guess I would put it this in context by saying, I'm Mexican American. My family, my mom's side of the family lived in Ciudad Juarez. My grandfather is from Jimenez in Chihuahua, Mexico. So I feel like in some ways I might have responded like a lot of the community in El Paso responded, which was to take it somewhat personally. And because of the sort of national conversations that were happening around issues like immigration and some political rhetoric that was happening, I thought that maybe this was related, I'll say.
Scott Brocato:
You spoke to nearly 100 El Paso residents February and March of 2020. Was this before or after you that the idea started to take shape with you to make it into a play?
Gregory Ramos:
Well, I had...a lot of the work that I've done in theater is interview related. I've made pieces in the past that are based on interviews that I've done. So as a theater artist, I guess my initial impulse was to create a piece as a way of kind of opening the conversation with the audience, but also kind of finding a way, on a personal artistic level, to find a way to respond to the event.
Scott Brocato:
How were you able to reach out to that many people? I understand Bob Moore, the publisher of El Paso Matters, who we have on here every week on our radio station, he's one of your characters (in the play).
Gregory Ramos:
Well, you know, I lived in El Paso. For five years. I taught at the University (of Texas-El Paso) from 1999 to 2004, and I've maintained ties with folks in the community. So I started reaching out to friends. And as typically happens in the interview process, friends will kind of connect you to other friends. And I've found ways to kind of get the word out through various listservs that I was doing this project. And just hoped that, you know, folks would respond. And I was lucky. You know, had it not been for the pandemic, I probably would have not started writing the play as early, and I would have collected even more interviews.
Scott Brocato:
What were some of the stories that you heard during the course of interviewing these people that particularly moved you, or perhaps surprised you?
Gregory Ramos:
Well, I think the overall response that I had was one of profound...what's the word I'm looking for...profound meaning. I saw profound meaning in how that community came together to heal. And, you know, we had seen these sort of violent crimes in America in various other American cities. But I think interestingly, because of the community of El Paso, because of a lot of the tradition and because of the sense that, you know, a lot of people say it's a big town, but it's a small town, like a big town with a small town feel and people know people, I think there's just a very specific character that exists there on the border that made the response to the event different than we had seen in other American cities. And I would characterize that by saying that community members really put aside all differences and came together to try and support each other and heal as a response to the traumatic event.
Scott Brocato:
Well, one of the El Pasoans that you did speak with was a former theater student of yours at UTEP, Adriana Dominguez.
Gregory Ramos:
Exactly, yeah.
Scott Brocato:
She is also a co-director of "Acts of Kindness”, along with Samantha Michelle Nava. How did Adriana become involved with the play?
Gregory Ramos:
Great question. Well, she's one of the people I had kept in touch with over the years. I think, actually, she was my first formal interview. She's the first person I spoke to when I went down there. And so her interview inspired one of the characters in the play. And you know, as an El Pasoan, I think she was very involved in the events that took place as a citizen, in terms of attending memorial services and attending candlelight vigils and, you know, really trying to participate in the events that were happening in the city as a means of healing. So some of her story shows up in the play, but I think she had such a connection as a theater person; she also expresses herself through theater. So I think she's been wanting to find a way to do the play for a number of years. And I think honestly, until now, it's been a little too early. I think the memory of the event was very present in people's minds. And, you know, time heals everything. So I think she felt like this was the time to do it. Enough time had gone by.
Scott Brocato:
The play has 23 roles played by 6 actors, three men and three women, with ties to UTEP. Can you talk about their acting and rehearsing process approaching the play? Now, they were directed to learn the lines before rehearsals started this summer, correct?
Gregory Ramos:
As far as I know. You know, it's interesting, because as a playwright, you're somewhat removed from the process. I know that because the play is a co-production between the University of Texas at El Paso and the Mexican American Cultural Center, there was an intent to really kind of support student learning, so I believe three of the actors that are involved are UTEP students.
Scott Brocato:
And talk about how the play will be presented visually on stage. What can audiences expect?
Gregory Ramos:
Great question. I can tell you how I intended...I'm always open to a director’s interpretation and artistic touches, but the play is intended to be performed by the six actors who play multiple roles and embody these different characters through vocalization and physicality. So we're indicating to the audience that they're playing different people. But also there is projections that were indicated in the script that indicate the landscape of El Paso and the name of the person speaking, so the audience can track.
And the play is not a series of monologues, right? It is a series of monologues in that characters are speaking one at a time. But we go back and forth between multiple characters. So as an actor, I might have four different monologues playing a particular character that happen in different parts off the evening.
Scott Brocato:
Well, aside from Bob Moore, who are some of the other characters in the play? What is the cross section that you went for here?
Gregory Ramos:
Well, I tried to be as varied as possible. We have a historian who was based on an individual who was then the director of the El Paso Historical Society. There is a therapist, there is a police detective who was at the scene after the shooting, there is a school teacher, there is a researcher who talks a bit about immigration and his take on it. So it's kind of a...I hoped to get sort of a cross section of the population there. But as what happens with drama, of course, I gravitated toward the pieces that I thought were the most dramatic or would be most stage-worthy.
Scott Brocato:
Finally, what do you want people to take away from "Acts of Kindness” after they see it this weekend?
Gregory Ramos:
Wow, great question. Thanks. I would say the play is really intended to honor the community, to honor a community that managed to come together and find a way to heal. And I hope that the piece stands as a reminder that we have a situation with gun violence in this country that we're grappling with, and that we have not found a way collectively to respond to in a way that protects our citizens. And you know, finally I hope that the play emerges as a tribute to the lives that were lost on that unfortunate day.
Scott Brocato:
Gregory Ramos, playwright of "Acts of Kindness: The El Paso Play”, performing this weekend at the El Paso Museum of Art. Thank you so much for joining us to talk about this with KRWG Public Media.
Gregory Ramos:
Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed talking to you.
