Los Angeles Times
Diane Haithman
A performance troupe doesn't name itself Culture Clash without some awareness that its material — which often skewers racial, ethnic, religious and gender stereotypes — might occasionally result in just such a clash with its audience.
But Culture Clash — Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza, three guys from L.A. — reports that the group has met with no resistance to a hot-button theater piece about a religious institution in its current show, "Culture Clash in AmeriCCa."
The piece is based on the true story of a Bostonian who tracked down and confronted the priest who abused him when he was a child — and then forgave him as the priest lay dying. The troupe has performed the show in Los Angeles, Chicago and Syracuse, N.Y., to mixed but mostly favorable reviews.
But now, the trio is telling the "Catholic Survivor" story in the wake of the death of Pope John Paul II and in the city where the scandal occurred.