Looking for América

Mermaid Arts Centre and Once Off Productions Present Looking for América.

Written and Performed by Federico Julián González.

Written and Directed by Janet Moran.

Directed and co-written by Janet Moran (A Holy Show, Swing), Looking for América is the real-life story of writer and performer Federico Julián González.

Following his father’s arrest by a Military Junta, at the age of five, Fede and his family were forced to flee the Salvadoran Civil war. There followed years of continuous moving throughout Latin America with his mother and brother as they sought sanctuary.

In 2019, Fede and his 74-year-old mother set off on a quest through Havana to look for América. Shared memories, conflicting recollections and offline maps led them through their past. A past peopled with ghosts scattered among grand avenues, dark lanes and unnerving dead ends in the city that had taken them in, more than 30 years before. They spoke to shop-keepers, taxi drivers, old ladies and more importantly to each other. When they were about to give up, they found her.

Looking for América charts two journeys. The journey of that night in Havana looking for a Salvadoran ex-Guerilla fighter called América, and the journey of escaping the catastrophe that had engulfed his country decades before. A catastrophe whose after effects still resonate today.

Sometimes the idea of home has to be remade. And remade. And remade.

Written & Performed by Federico Julián González Written & Directed by Janet Moran

Lighting Design by Colin Doran

AV Design by Neil O’Driscoll

Sound Design by Mark Jackson

Production Managed by Veronica Foo

Stage Managed by Mark Jackson

Produced by Once Off Productions

Line Produced by Cally Shine

Funded by the Arts Council.

Supported by Draíocht Blanchardstown and Pavilion Theatre.

Federico Julián González studied psychology in Cuba and his native El Salvador and works in mental health services in Dublin. Looking for América marks his debut as a writer and performer.

Janet Moran is an actor, playwright and director based in Dublin. Selected Theatre work includes Ulysses, The Plough & The Stars, Juno and the Paycock (National Theatre, London/Abbey Theatre co-production), Shibari, Translations, No Romance, The Recruiting Officer, The Cherry Orchard, She Stoops to Conquer, Communion, The Barbaric Comedies, The Well of the Saints and The Hostage all at the Abbey Theatre, Car Show, Dublin by Lamplight, Everyday, Freefall and Desire under The Elms for Corn Exchange, and Spinning, Swing (co-writer)and Rathmines Road for Fishamble. Film and television work includes Trivia, Love/Hate, Love is the Drug, T (RTE), Dublin Oldschool, The Bailout(TV3), The Butcher Boy, Breakfast on Pluto, Milo, Minim Rest, Bono and My Ex, Moll Flanders, Nothing Personal, Volkswagen Joe and Quirke (BBC). She co-wrote the hit play Swing and wrote and directed A Holy Show which sold out at the Dublin and Edinburgh fringe festivals and its national tour in spring 2020. She also recently directed My Romantic History, Looking for América and the forthcoming Pure Mental.