In 2001, a group of Mexican migrants were left stranded in the blistering desert heat east of Yuma, Arizona. Smugglers, whom they had paid for safe transport to the border, promised them that the nearest road was a few hours away and that they would return with water.
The smugglers never came back.
Fourteen people from the group died in the span of five days. At the time, it was the “deadliest attempt to cross the border in Arizona history.”
When news of the tragedy reached playwright José Casas, he was moved to respond with the play now being produced by Theatre Prometheus titled 14. Casas paints a full picture of our border conflict through the voices of people with differing viewpoints on the topic of US immigration.
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Each character is interviewed by an unseen playwright who is writing a play about immigration. The play’s 16 characters live on or near the Arizona border. Casas based them on public records, news events, or personal interviews, similar to that used by the Tectonic Theatre Group in writing about the murder of Matthew Shepherd in The Laramie Project, which was published a year before the tragedy that sparked 14. Casas serves us a variety of perspectives from a widow of a Latino border patrol agent; a minister who places water in barrels for the migrants; a rancher who believes it’s his right to shoot anyone who walks onto his property at night; an obrero (worker) hoping to buy his daughter a Barbie, and others.
Cast members Meredith Garagiola, Tom Howley, Lalo Medina, and Cristina Sanchez take on multiple characters, each with lengthy monologues, which could pose a challenge when the play’s runtime is two and a half hours. Their performances, overall, weren’t strong enough to make me want to linger with each character or seemed strangely out of context. As an example, at one point, Medina portrayed a Latino law student with such a high-pitched voice, it felt like a sketch from a comedy show. What should have been smart commentary on Latino Americans in academia was drowned out by Medina’s cartoonish representation.
Garagiola, on the other hand, showed a strong range as she transitioned from playing a grieving mother, a Bosnian immigrant doctor, and a wealthy boutique owner. I enjoyed Sanchez’s performance as a soulful and sweet immigrant woman (one of the two monologues performed completely in Spanish), and Howley’s rendition of a defensive rural Arizonian was nicely rendered.
14, closes May 12, 2019 at Caos on F. Details and tickets
The set is a simple one-—a traditionally woven Mexican blanket hangs on the brick wall of Caos on F along with a ‘no trespassing’ sign. A few props, a desk, block, and chair, which serve as moving set pieces, are all that’s needed to tell the stories. Projections (Nitsan Scharf) introduce the characters, their occupations, and act as (sometimes animated) backdrops. Although the projections added context to several monologues, they were, at times, difficult to see against the brick wall. In one scene, an artist, who painted a school mural, was enraged that it was under threat of being whitewashed. The mural was projected behind her, but I struggled to make it out from the front row.
While José Casas has written a rich script, as urgently relevant now as it was in 2001, the Theatre Prometheus production has but a few totally engaging moments.
14 by José Casas. Directed by Lauren Patton. Featuring: Meredith Garagiola, Tom Howley, Lalo Medina, and Cristina Sanchez. Assistant director: Chelsea Radigan. Lighting designer: E-hui Woo. Projection designer: Nitsan Scharf. Sound designer: Denise Rose. Costume designer: Kristina Martin. Set designer: Eric McMorris & Daniel Mori. Casting associate: Noa Gelb. Voice and movement instructor: Noa Gelb. Production stage manager: Abi Rose. Produced by Theatre Prometheus. Reviewed by Emily Priborkin.
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