Currently Playing at The Old Globe until June 22
The Old Globe is hosting the San Diego premiere of Gloria Calderón Kellett’s Play “One of the Good Ones”—a story set in Pasadena with an American family of Latin American descent.
Yoli (Cree) has graduated from college and returned home with her parents, Ilana (Angelique Cabral), a first-generation American with Mexican-Puerto Rican parents, and Enrique (Benito Martinez), also a first-generation American with Cuban parents. Ilana, like many children of immigrants to the United States, was deprived of learning Spanish, so she had her daughter learn it, which also became a dynamic between Yoli and Enrique, who speak Spanish to each other when tension arises. Yoli met Marcos (Nico Greetham) in Mexico City when studying abroad and invited him to meet the family. She also has flowers delivered to the home by Pedro (Santino Jimenez), who experiences an awkward exchange with Ilana.
When Marcos shows up, Enrique is stunned as he expected someone different. The comedy of errors vibe begins where stereotypes prevail, alongside truth and some check-ins.
And here I go with my usual spiel for context: As a woman raised in Tijuana and living in the United States, it has been hard for me to view plays with a mixed-Latin American-immigrant perspective, as usually they just exhaust a stereotypical narrative that bulks everyone into one mold, which I have never identified with. Yet, there are some jewels here and there that go to the root and become educational to mostly white people, but yes, people like me, too. Gloria Calderón Kellett’s writing goes to the root; in crescendo as the story starts with Ilana’s insecurity about her identity because she feels like she “does not look Mexican or Puerto Rican enough”, a stereotype perpetuated by Western culture and continuously sponsored by the Latin American culture to assimilate, and flows through the typical labels this country has also advertised to move through life to set us a part and put each person in “their lane”—terms like “first generation”, “LatinX”, “Latine”, etc. To the “reverse racism” (because yes, we are also racist… or as the Avenue Q song would say), to raw reflections having it all make sense at the end, wrapped in hilarious, ongoing comedy.
The cast comprises TV personalities who exhibit great chemistry and share fun moments. Kimberly Senior directs the piece, and I believe I have not seen a play directed by her since La Jolla Playhouse’s The Who and the What in 2014, when I also had the opportunity to interview her. Senior lends this freedom to the cast, which is reflected onstage and gives way to the comedy and the truth. Angelique Cabral leads the hilarious timing, complemented by perfect makeup and hair. Cree is the axis for everything to take place, and her character, Yoli, has the “woke” perspective, along with Nico Greetham’s Marcos, who is definitely a charmer and also steals several funny lines. Benito Martinez, as the conservative, shocked father, is a delight to watch and also displays heartfelt emotions. Santino Jimenez has a couple of brief scenes that steal the show, mainly due to his performance, but also because of the context that had him deliver the true wokeness of the piece. The play features lines in Spanish, and grammatically, it is correct; however, the pronunciation is not suitable for characters who are supposedly native speakers. IYKYK…Again, this is the eternal Achilles’ heel in American theatre. And, I have to admit, that as much as I enjoyed this play, which I honestly did, I would be curious to see it with the understudies, as I know some of them are fully bilingual, and I think that would change the vibe.
Practically 9 out of 10 times that I see a set design at The Globe, I want to hire these artists for a design consultation. Takeshi Kata’s set is not the exception, as the family home is beautiful, featuring a gorgeous bookshelf that spans from top to bottom, including the stairs. Sarita Fellows’ costumes effectively highlight each character’s personality and feature a cute shoe change for a couple of them, which rounds out the mood. Jaymi Lee Smith’s lighting is bright and vibrant, ensuring the audience does not miss a single moment. Andrea Allmond and Jeff Gardner’s sound has the perfect cues that accentuate each comedic delivery.
Fun, hilarious scenes and botched pronunciation aside, Calderón Kellett’s play dots the i’s and crosses the t’s with immigration in the States, as everybody in this country is an immigrant, and delves deeper, explaining as well as exhibiting the missed cultural practice in this country as well as the lack of a valid identity. I want to spoil it, but I won’t, so I will tease: One of Enrique’s lines says it out loud.
One of the Good Ones is currently playing until June 22.
The stage manager for this show is Chandra R.M. Anthenill, with Karla Garcia as the assistant stage manager.
