San Francisco performer brings ‘Seeking the Last Gay Man’ solo show to Santa Rosa

Life can be complex for someone who is both gay and Latino, as San Francisco playwright and solo performer Hector Zavala observes. In his latest play, he confronts the issue head-on.

Zavala will perform “Buscando al Ultimo Hombre Gay” (“Seeking the Last Gay Man”) in Spanish, with English subtitles, Wednesday at The California, downtown Santa Rosa’s new live theater.

In this show, Zavala, 43, deals with a subject that is very close to him. He is both gay and Latino.

He drew inspiration for the play from the stories of five gay friends going through breakups and their conversations about their hopes for happy relationships.

“There are some of my own stories in there, too,” he said. “My character has to run away from home because he’s gay and doesn’t feel accepted. This story is about the search for love.”

Ultimately, the quest must lead to self-acceptance.

“In the end, the ‘last gay man’ is myself,” Zavala said.

Growing up with his widowed mother, he began to notice that he felt different from others around him.

“I grew up in San Jose. I did not see anyone onstage who looked like me. It was very rare,” he said. “People of color have approached me to say it’s very important for people to see these stories. For Spanish-speaking people, it is also important to hear the story in their own language.”

He first performed “Last Gay Man” in 2019 at several San Francisco venues and was scheduled to take it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2020 when COVID-19 concerns shut down live performances.

After performing online during the pandemic, Zavala took his show south of the border. He toured with it in Mexico, where he was met with a range of audience reactions.

“In Mexico City, audiences have enjoyed the show, both men and women,” he said. “In other parts of the country, it has not been welcome. People have tried to shut it down without knowing what the show is about.”

He plans to take his solo play to Bogota, Colombia, next year.

Zavala has written and produced 10 shows. He did his first solo performance at The Marsh in San Francisco in English in 2015. Performing his stories alone onstage, Zavala has found a powerful medium for personal expression.

“I’m writing another one-man show now,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.