A Peasant of El Salvador

In 2019, High School Theater students performed “A Peasant of El Salvador,” (by Gould & Stearns) a riveting, funny, heart-warming, and heart-wrenching story of a hill farmer and his family against the backdrop of the Salvadoran civil unrest of the 1970s.

It tells the story of a peasant named Jesus who has a big heart, a big family and a small piece of land. The peasant, one of hundreds like him, patiently waits for things to change in the face of a military dictatorship, sweeping land reforms, death squads, guerrilla warfare and unprecedented repression. Three narrators take us on a journey to a time and place far removed from us, where the sweat is salty, the corn is sweet, and the feuds are bitter.

Thank you to the High School Theater for bringing such a brave, intimate, and educational performance dealing with harsh realities faced in El Salvador at the onset of the civil war.