Los Otros

The theme of this play is described as being about immigration and I thought, "Oh great". Something that will be about the poor Mexican immigrants from the biased bleeding hearts liberal point of view. But it wasn't. It is about a man and woman (no names, just Man and Woman) who separately tell/sing about their experiences. Their experiences and stories were touched by immigrants.

It started off a bit strange.  A woman in her mid-forties dressed only in a slip, starts her story as a little girl back in 1952 in a small town near San Diego. She and her girlfriends would always go to a train tunnel to watch the trains trundle past. One day, a man and his wife with their baby strapped to her, jump from the slow moving train.  The girls watch from the shadows as the family leave the tracks and find a cave to hide. Claiming the family as theirs, the girls bring sacks of food for them.  This goes on for 3 days until they see a produce truck with people in the bed of the truck. Amongst the huddled people is their family.  Broken hearted, the girls watch the truck drive away.

She tells stories of her life as she gets older, including the time her ex-husband George helps her get a maid in Tijuana. Another story is when she seduces a young field laborer while they were eating at a late night taco stand while she was in a drunken stupor. I didn't enjoy this part, thinking she was going to be hurt or worse.

Then a Hispanic man comes out to sing/tell his story. First he clarified that he is a US citizen, thank you very much. His mother left Mexico after a terrible hurricane leveled her village. He is now a gay, 70 year old accountant. He tells the story of when he was a young boy, his family would drive north every summer to pick plums for a bitter, crippled landowner who is waiting for his son to return from the war in the Pacific during WWII. During that summer, as the war was ending, the Man discovers his sexuality.

In his later years, his partner of 15 years brings his ex-wife into their home.  The Man is okay with the wife coming into their lives.  In fact, she becomes the "wife" for both men. The Man's partner collects art, but it was too much. The Man was going to leave his partner due to "elegant hoarding". But, he doesn't. More years go by and the Man is showing signs of Alzheimer's. His partner of now 30 years is helping him and his ex-wife comes on stage. It is the Woman from the earlier part of the play.  The Man's partner is George, the ex-husband of the Woman.

It was a very different delivery of their stories through singing and talking. But I got into it because the stories were compelling. Max said he liked the Man better than the Woman. He gave the play B-.