It’s Your Life / People, Places and Things to do. : Stories Straight From the Streets of Oxnard

Violence and drug use in the streets of Oxnard are not generally the parts of life local residents would pay $2 to witness.

But that will be the suggested donation Friday night, when members of the Victory Outreach church in La Puente stake out the corner of 7th Street and Ventura Road, to act out stories based upon their lives, in the staged production “Straight From The Hood.”

The drama is being sponsored by the 400-member Oxnard church, founded 10 years ago by Pastor Bob Herrera. Herrera said he has spent the past decade helping local “down-and-outers straighten out their lives.” Part of his community outreach is the presentation of several productions yearly.

“We put on plays that try to bring up the realities of the lifestyles of drug addiction, gang activity, violence, prison life and home life as well,” Herrera said.

To drive the point home, the shows are very vivid in their depiction of these lifestyles, he added. “We try to make it realistic to the point where its going to touch their lives. But the key to our ministry is that we always end our dramas with a solution.”

The actors in Friday’s production are examples of positive solutions. All were gang members before hooking up with Victory Outreach. Herrera realizes the production may not directly result in local youngsters turning their lives around, but he hopes it gets audience members thinking.

“The response to the plays is subtle; it takes time to set in,” he said. “But later on, when they find themselves hurting, they remember the production, the testimonies, the lifestyle portrayed before them, and they also remember the solution. That’s the hook. A week, a month later, they’ll be calling.”

* “Straight From The Hood,” Friday, 7 p.m., on carnival grounds at corner of 7th Street and Ventura Road, Oxnard. Donation, $2. Call 986-8862.