I AM NOT YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER – Written by Isaac Gomez; Directed by Laura Alcala Baker. Produced by the Denver Center Theatre Company (Presented in the Kilstrom Theatre, 14th and Curtis, Denver) through November 3. Tickets available at 303-893-4100 or Denvercenter.org.
This production conducts a deep dive into the psyche of a troubled Hispanic teenager who seems to have a lot of life’s tribulations stacked against her much too early. For instance, the play starts at the funeral of her nearly perfect older sister (by about seven or eight years). Her personal grief and guilt are overwhelming especially when compounded by a silent father, a critical mother, and the pressures put upon teenagers to “grow up” too fast. No, she is not perfect, but she is trying to do her best to survive her own life.
A surprising and unexpected segment of family history is revealed late in the show that offers some explanation for the strained family relationships. Almost too late to help Julia weather these storms. From the scenes at the funeral, with the deceased sister weaving in and out of the proceedings, through Julia’s return to school and her friend’s reactions to what has happened to her, to her unwanted Quinceanera, to her first boyfriend, her life bumps along. After finding unexpected things in her sister’s room, she becomes like the proverbial dog with a bone in trying to figure out who her sister really was. The woman she uncovers is not the sister she thought she grew up with and it nearly destroys her. Caring relatives in the homeland teach her unconditional love and provides a positive tipping point in her personal growth.
The acting in this production by the nearly all-Hispanic cast is outstanding. Rosa Isabella Salvatierra, while an experienced actress with years of work under her belt, inhabits the teenage Julia with grace and appropriate awkwardness. Her hesitation at entering a relationship with her Anglo classmate is palpable and authentic. She is delightfully self-deprecating and realistic about her reluctance to “grow up,” to accept her Mom for who she is, to disagree with her bestie but still love her, and to face that this is a part of her life that she will live through and eventually forgive.
As parents, her mother, Nicole Betancourt, and father, Alex Alpharaoh, are hard to understand until you learn their own hardship story. They play both the distant parents and the loving with equal honesty. Heather Lee Echeverria plays the sister who never really gives up on trying to help Julia from beyond and seems to rejoice in the insights and progress she continues to make. Her best friends in school are played with sass and over-the-top drama. Brandon Rivera as Juanga plays a typical high schooler using his gayness for attention while Tanya De Leon is his partner in crime being as outrageous as he is for effect. The Anglo’s in the cast, John Plumpis as an understanding and supportive teacher for Julia, and Daniel Clark as Conner who introduces Julia to the joys of young love, are also completely authentic in creating the positives in her life.
As always, the technical aspects of the show are spectacular, using the full capability of the pit under the in-the-round stage with things rising out of the floor and flying in from above. In one case, the upper part of the staging lowers almost to the ground seeming to literally crush Julia without actually touching her. A circular stage reminds one of the adage that you can draw circles that keep people in and that can also keep people out. Julia moves in and out of her own life circles, sometimes closing in but eventually opening to allow her a new place in life.
A WOW factor of 8.5!!