Are not painters we abate graffiti. We are abaters not painters. Get that out of the way and keep moving. How many of these do you do a day . How many poles we do a day . Yeah. Depends on the location. May be 20. Do you like working with the team . Yes because im a people person. I like being outside and interacting with the public and i like the response we get especially from the good job we do in the community. Goodbye. The project all started from the brain child over here, noelexsavio of the city of San FranciscoCode Enforcement department. applause . Early 2007 gave me a call, he said, hey, i got this funding for a really cool project, can you help me out, i dont do theater. So we got together, we put together a script and weve been touring every since. We hope its doing some good. We hope its changing some lives. I could go on and on and on about this but im not. Well have a little q and a session after this. Can you hear me . Im an actor, i dont need this. Well answer questions about how it got going and what its about. The way we start this out at the schools is i come out and introduce myself, introduce the guys a little bit, these are my students at Sacramento City college then kick it off, hello, local celebrity, a guy from sacramento who does performances in poetry, hes an actor, he does rap music, all kinds of stuff, he doesnt juggle but he has a lot of talent and im sure he could. Now well go to the spoken word with lsg wow, once you learn something, you own it. You can share it, no one can take it from you. I want you to leave here with something today. I want you to leave here with some of our knowledge. We are a group of actors, rappers, dancers and poets and if they will allow them to, all of them will sing you a chorus. This is based on true, real life stories, stories about kids just like you. Kids have to make decisions every day like who are you going to be friends with, paying attention in class or even showing up are all choices you have to make every day. So i want you to Pay Attention to the choices that are made in this play so that later, when we come talk to you, you can tell us how you would handle these situations. So its time for you to use your mind and listen so you can learn how to make the wise choice, the right choice, to be leaders instead of followers. Did i forget to mention . The name of this play is the fall of inaudible . Drop dead. Whats up, whats up. Welcome to the prologue. How are you doing out there . Great. I said, how are you doing out there . All right, all right, now be quiet. We are here today to save your lives. Maybe, it can happen, just listen. Were just like you, were students. We got some students from john f. Kennedy high school, and here we got some students from Martin LutherKing Junior High School out there. And wed like to give a special shout out to assistant principal braxton. Wed like to present something for you to think about and then come to your groups and talk about it and hopefully we end something and hopefully we dont end our lives in tragedy. This isnt tragedy like the ancient greeks used to do like sophocles and euripides. We have our principal characters and a greek chorus music . Im an ares, ill be playing the role of the prince. Thats it for costumes, guys, were on a tight budget. What makes a tragedy a tragedy . The ancient greeks would say its from a king falls from grace. He was once a great king but a few scenes later he was blind and starving. Its the choices you make that determine your outcomes. Now, before we begin i want you to guys to remember this story is based on true events. This is fictionalized. We didnt paint that on that wall. Look at my store. Every time someone paints on my wall, you show up. Im sorry, but according to the citys ordinance. According to the ordinance, it costs over 200. You know who is doing it, what are you going to do to stop them. Are you the police . Code enforcement. Code enforcement, the garbage man, i dont care. I called over an hour ago. Just because my door faces the boulevard these kids treat it like its their own personal billboard or something. I mean, look at that. Probably have to come down. You going to write a citation. I cant believe this. I been victimized twice, first by the kids and then by Code Enforcement. Please, cant you do something about it . This is the fifth time. We pay our taxes. Yes, maam. You see, this is a bad situation. When private property is vandalized innocent people are stuck with the expense of fixing it and when public property is fixed, tax dollars are spent cleaning it up instead of providing other services to the public. You want to know whos doing it . Yes. music . Hey, check this out. I think thats ed. What you got . Let me see. That you . What have you got . No way, man. No way, man. Dont nobody believe you. If you are x, prove it. Hey, sure looks like it to me. Oh, man, hes x let me see. Well, well, well, can this be true. Little Danny Plimpton is the infamous x how can they be, danny boy . Why x, you trying to be malcolm x or dmx or racer x or something. My first name is Xavier Daniel plimpton. How did you get to the walking bridge on i5. And the fire station over on 14th, how did you get all the way up there. Didnt i tell yall . Spiderman is my cousin. Man, i dont believe you. So the infamous x, serious, i dont know x, i seen that tag before. Seems to have a bad vibe. You mean like x marks the spot . No, like x finds the buried treasure. No, like x is a marked man. Chill out, man, we just playing. Im not lying, though, i think it means you are claiming something. You mean like some kind of gang . Im not some kind of gangster. I dont want nothing from those gangsters. If tivo is right, you better be careful. Some of your best art work is being crossed out. Thats cool, ill move on and do another. The qs, quality and quantity is my game. You better quit, spiderman. Guys like you, they got no backup. True. Ill run with you guys. Look, you cant decide you are kicking with us, we dont bang, we dont want nothing from your gang. You mean to tell me if a gang crossed you out, you do nothing. I do this for the fun, the thrill. You start banging, im quiting. The gang, x1, citywide damage. I dont want any of that. Well see, man, well see. music . inaudible dangerous element but its all about fun, right . Until. Hey, mr. Torrez, are you all right . They ran in, they grabbed all the money out of the register, they even grabbed a case of beer. Ill call the police. What is that going to do . Thats it. You know they are coming back and next time im going to be ready. Im worried about him. He cant sleep. He keeps hoping hopping out of bed every time he hears a sound. I know what youre going through. My boy would have graduated high school this year. I remember him. He was such a polite boy. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Another innocent victim of random violence. Why do so many children have guns anyway. Isnt there anything we can do to stop it . I dont know. I just dont know. I guess all we can do is hope and pray. What is the value of a human life . Maybe thats what we need to think about. The ancient greeks had a word for it i think may be part of the problem today, hubris they called it, excessive pride. Its what they called a character flaw, the kind of flaw that can bring down kings. music . Man, nice, nice, you do nice work, man. So whats up . Cleanest tag ever, man, what you planning. Im not planning a thing. Im trying to express myself. inaudible . No, man, must be a misunderstanding. Come on, we know they make all the new recruits do all the tagging, its part of your initiation. Im not planning anything. You know im really tired of your disrespect. Youre x1 . No one man is x1. This is a big mistake. Shut up. shouting whats up, that part of your work . Of course i am. I dont belong to x2, im x xavier. Looks like x to me. Your pride is whats going to bring you down. Now we got to do something. Now we have to make an example out of you. Help help help . music . So whats up, man . I was asleep when you called. There it is, what do you think. Talking about the freeway. Yeah, if we tag up there were going to get a lot of respect. I dont know, man, sure youre going to have enough room. Look at the outline. You are not doing. Shut up. Yeah, i am, he said i could. I aint acting stupid. Shut up, stupid. Start right here and flow down the side down here. Whats it going to be . Going to be a masterpiece. Check it out. After the outline going to do this area right here light blue and then put bill in big bold letters right there. Oh, man, thats going to be tight. Here comes crass with more paint. Crass, i want you to do the top. This all the paint you brought, two cans of powder blue. This is ridiculous. What was that about x i was just asking if you guys seen him lately. This isnt fair. I need more paint. Where . No, wait, i think torrez is closed. Youre going to have to go all the way to broadway. Torrez is closed . No problem. I know another way in. Why do you bother with him, man . Hes dumb. We got to bring on the dumb ones, right . What were you saying about x have you guys seen him lately . No, man, why. I saw his mom talking to the police. Said he hasnt been seen in two days. Maybe he went to disneyland. His mom was crying. He looked in the alley and then on the way over here, a car pulled up on me, im carrying ought all this paint but all he did was ask a bunch of questions about x we gonna do this or not . Chill out, we got all night. What are you doing out so late. Does your mother know youre not in school. School . Come on, boys, lets go. All right, just be careful. All right, whos gonna go first. Ill go first then you, hey. No, i got it. music screaming sound of Police Sirens . The question has come up, choices have to be made. Mrs. Torrez im sorry, i have to go. Mrs. Torrez, how are you holding up . Im fine, thank you. Hows mr. Torrez hes doing his best, still trying to raise bail. First they murder and then on the very same day. That was no accident. My husband shot that poor boy down in cold blood when he bought that gun he carried it with him everywhere hoping something would happen. He had so much rage. Now he just sits there and barely speaks. He knew that boy. The one they call ill, he knew him since he was a small boy. But it was dark and all he could see was someone coming through the window. Why must there be so many guns . I dont know. I dont know. And then those boys, paul, the one they call pratt, falling to his death from a freeway overpass. What was he doing out there so late at night. The kid was climbing up the freeway sign to tag it and lost his footing. They said he was hit by two cars. Does life mean nothing any more . What can be done . music . All right, listen up. This aint kid stuff any more. This is war. Everybody attack, all the gangs beating on us, now its time we take back the hood. Were going to tag it up big and reclaim the store. My cousin coming strapped for backup so if anything happens. Hey, whats up, man . What yall planning. We hit them back and we hit them hard. Listen to me, all of you. Go home. Go home before you get yourselves killed. What are you talking about . Cant you see whats going on in your own hood . You think were going to let that happen . No, im not. Come on, tibo, youre a leader. Yeah, but i also want to inaudible . I want to lead as many of these kids out of here as i can. We aint playing no more, this is real. Three of our kids are dead now. A coward would stay home and let you get shot over something stupid. Go home and lead. The rest of us got work to do. You dont have to do this. You dont have to buy this kind of trouble. You can good a little further and do the right thing. Whats that . I dont know, but it aint this. This is negative. Kids die young over this kind of stuff. Were in a war. No youre not. Its a stupid war, then. Go home, all of yall. Go home now . Hey, come back here right now. Come back here right now. Thats it, heat, you aint my folk. I am your folk. You aint my folk. I am your best friend. I can take that but im not going to your funeral, man. I aint going to no more funerals. Come back. Lets look at what happens to inaudible and tibo yo whats up, man . Not much, man. What you been up to since last we talked . I just been thinking a lot about what you said. I didnt mean to come off so hard. Thats just it, you were right. Do the right thing. Im heading to college, art class. Go ahead, im proud of you, man. Bad boys, bad boys. Believe it or not, for a tragedy, it does have a happy ending but it raises some questions to talk about like what is the value of your human life. What can you do as an individual who live a positive life . Where does that begin . How will you choose . Before we come to talk to you about it, i think you need to hear this. music . Now is question and answer time. Well done. Make some noise for wild and done. applause . Anybody have questions . Any questions . What we did was i scoured basically the internet and found stories throughout