Theater: “American (Tele)visions” at Nww York Theater Workshop
Memory plays have come a long way from “The Glass Menagerie.” Case in point: “American (Tele)visions,” a new semi-autobiographical play by Victor I. Cazares, a self-described “enby PQIMA.” That stands for Non-binary Queer Indigenous Mexican Artist—a new one on me.
Erica (Bianca “b” Norwood) is a 40-something (pronouns: they/he) who pushes a shopping cart through the original Walmart in Arkansas, reminiscing about their early life in America. It began when their father Octavio (Raul Castillo), an undocumented Mexican, entered the country in the 1990s and began saving money to get his family across the border.
Life hasn’t exactly been the Ozzie and Harriet Show once the family is reunited in the States. Octavio’s son Alejandro is forced to give up school and support the family by working in a factory that makes chain fences: “they keep us in and they keep us out.” Alejandro gets chummy with Jesse (Clew), a Vietnamese coworker whom he invites home to live with him and his family in the father’s double-wide trailer. They become lovers, and their sex acts are recorded on a video tape which Alejandro’s parents discover and which doesn’t exactly thrill them.
Meanwhile, Erica befriends Jeremy (Ryan J. Haddad), a disabled neighbor who is obsessed with Barbie dolls. All the confused Octavio desires is the peace and quiet to drink beer and watch his VCR, which he can’t operate properly because he doesn’t have the correct remote.
“(tele) visions” is described as a “multi-media production which includes live performance, live camera feeds and pre-recorded video.” The characters are refracted through multiple television screens, imagined video games, endless Walmart aisles and a double-wide torn in two. The intent is twofold: to show the plight of the undocumented and to demonstrate the crass consumerism of America. But the relentless gimmickry often gets in the way of the story and leaves you confused instead of enlightened or especially moved.
NYTW has been the source of some of the most inventive plays in recent theatre history (“Hadestown” and “Slave Play” are two examples.) They’re so out-of-the box, in fact they’ve made it to Broadway. Regretfully, I don’t think “American (tele) visions”, currently in previews at NYTW, will do the same.