In the early 1980’s the civil war in El Salvador was raging. The media in the United States downplayed the brutality of the government’s military forces and the right wing death squads. The San Francisco Mime Troupe answered the call to justice with their musical production, Last Tango in Huahuatenango. They enlisted Lawrence Montgomery to paint a drop that reflected the barbarity of the moment. Lawrence worked from actual photographs taken in the ditches of the Salvadorian countryside. The resulting scene, while gruesome, was effective.
“The staging is simple, basically in front of a mountain setting painted by Malaquias Montoya, climaxed by a stunning, Goya-esque massacre scene, painted by Larry Montgomery.”
Bernard Weiner, San Francisco Chronicle, February 10, 1982
“…Larry Montgomery created a painted scene that took me completely by surprise: It is shocking and poignant.”
Nancy Scott, San Francisco Examiner, February 9, 1982
“Curtains are used as backdrops, including one striking landscape by Larry Montgomery that recalls the horror of Guernica.”
Mel Gussow, New York Times, November 27, 1982
San Francisco Mime Troupe drop designed and painted by Lawrence Montgomery, 1982
Last Tango drop detail