Amilcar Chavez knows all about crossing borders. When he was 8 years old he had to leave his home in war-torn El Salvador and endure multiple perilous border crossings -- between El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States -- before he reached safety. Out of the group of around 20 who left El Salvador, he says, only about eight people made it to the U.S. -- the rest were caught, got lost or died.

So when he rehearses for Carlos Von Son's play, "Cruces," which explores the reasons why so many people from Mexico are desperate to leave their homes -- even if it means dying in the process -- it all comes back to him.

"Being in this play," Chavez says, "gives me a reality check. Most of us who have grown up here take everything for granted, but this play reminds me where I've come from and the things I had to go through -- not just myself, but my mom and my brothers and my sisters -- to get here. It makes you appreciate more of what you have. It gives you that perspective of life."

Chavez is part of a troupe of young Latino students who, through Palomar College professor Von Son, have discovered the power and joy of theater and who will be performing in "Cruces" tonight and Sunday afternoon at Cal State San Marcos. I met with a few of them at Von Son's home Tuesday night, where the atmosphere was charged with a mixture of seriousness and exuberance as they worked on their props, rehearsed their scenes and chatted with me about the play.

What impressed me was their obvious passion and commitment -- not only for the medium of theater and the sobering message imbedded in this play, but for trying to help other young Latinos find a similar sense of purpose and creativity in their lives.

Nadia Cabuto is the assistant director of "Cruces" -- her sister Diana is the director -- and like Chavez is a student at CSUSM who plans on becoming a teacher. "I'm gaining all this experience, which I'll use when I teach. I'll form a theater for my students and we'll have plays in Spanish and English and even Spanglish -- whatever it takes to help the kids feel connected to something meaningful, to build their self-esteem. Carlos (Von Son) has given that to us. He's the mentor, the role model, the adviser. He's the magician: He makes things happen."

When I comment to Von Son -- professor, writer, filmmaker and magician -- how poised and self-assured his students are, he smiles with pride. "Theater is one of the most precious tools we have for creating social awareness. And of course it's a didactic tool. But it's also about the individual -- they learn to be articulate, they learn how to speak in public, they learn the skills they're going to need in life."

Von Son and his troupe of actors hope that the play "Cruces" will challenge its audience to examine their assumptions about immigration and inspire them to ask why so many people are literally dying to cross over the border from Mexico to the United States.

Performances are at 8 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Sunday at Cal State San Marcos, Theater Room Arts 111. For more info: cvonson@palomar.edu or call (760) 744-1150, Ext. 5250. Admission: $10 adults, $5 children.

Valley Center resident Brigid Brett is a freelance columnist for the North County Times. Contact her at brigidbrett@aol.com.