The American Dream, a little play about a big topic that’s been dominating headlines since the late 1960s, finally gives voice to the people at the center of the dilemma on our southern border. It’s a limited voice, one that doesn’t delve into the why of our immigration crisis. By now, most of us understand the pressures that drive people to abandon their homes in search of a better life. Instead, The American Dream looks into the risks surrounding that journey and goes on to probe the impact undocumented migration has upon the human spirit.
The tension between a man and woman who enter a spare industrial room, it’s walls bathed in graffiti, is felt immediately. There’s a weariness hanging from the man as if he’s weighed down by the tiring repetition of his duties. His speech is short and flat as he gives the woman orders on where to stand and what to do. She complies, but is clearly anxious. Confused and becoming distraught, she pelts him with questions that accentuate her vulnerability. Why has she been singled out? Why isn’t she being allowed to continue on to New York City according to plan?
Failure of Corina’s husband to pay the balance of the charge to smuggle her from Guatemala has her and her captor, Efren (Jorge Aguilar), locked in a high-stakes waiting game. If the money isn’t received within thirty minutes, Corina (Kairis Rivera) could lose her life.
Playwright Juan Ramirez, Jr. orchestrates a psychological duel between the two of them that throbs with suspense. One of them wonders whether he’ll be required to kill while the other schemes to live. Corina’s barrage of questions leads to an uneasy dialog that, as it evolves, threatens to shift the power balance between them. She senses Efren’s desolation and uses that insight to pierce his psyche in search of an advantage. The way Efren hesitates as he listens, allowing himself to process her claims and statements, are clues her persistence is working. Watching as her efforts begins to reap fruit, you begin to admire Corina’s tenacity; as well as her bottomless ingenuity. Neither brute force nor lethal threat cow her. Anticipating the unforseen, she’s armed with ploys specifically constructed to buy her time or save her life.
As their exchanges continue, Efren’s vulnerabilities become more and more evident. He falters when she tells him she’s pregnant and flashes an image of a sonogram to prove her contention. Even when the veracity of her claim is challenged, the prospect of killing a pregnant woman triggers a fateful regret and eventually the grim confession at its root. Each highlights the grotesque choices people are sometimes pressed to make when human beings are reduced to the commodities of trade.
Corina’s the unlikely bearer of other information that causes Efren to reflect on his life and tap into another source of regret. If what she insinuates is true, she has information he desperately craves to fill in gaps in his past. It’s clear he’ll make sacrifices to get it. As the play expands, the disparity between Corina and Efren begins to feel too great. Her mental dexterity and psychological fortitude may be admirable, but she’s left with little complexity. The contours of her humanity are barely visible. Unlike Efren, whose guilt fills his existence, Corina remains a mystery shielded in iron. There’s no hint of what she aspires to when she reaches New York. No substantive clue to the ultimate determinant that prompted her to leave Guatemala. The ironies and disappointment in Efren’s life are enough to grasp how tenuous it can be to chase dreams. An inability to overcome personal loss can undermine the resolve to reach one’s potential. The absence of nurture and meaningful options can be just as damning to personal fulfillment.
Created in 2019 by University of Illinois Chicago students, including the play’s director, Omar Fernandez, Subtext Studio aspires to amplify the voices of underrepresented artists. With a concentration on BIPOC and LGBTQ+ creatives, their productions are intended to expand our understanding of who we are and offer a more complete expression of our world. The American Dream achieves that goal admirably. With his personal knowledge of the migrant experience, Ramirez crafts a story that promotes empathy while enhancing our knowledge of a reality that continues to challenge and perplex societies around the globe.
The hard austerity of Harrison Ornelas’s set added an uncanny immediacy to the tension surrounding Corina and Efren’s war of wills.
Watching Rivera transform her character from pawn to mounting threat was one of the highlights of the play. No less impressive in his depiction of a man trapped in circumstances, Aguilar’s Efren put a compelling and sympathetic face on an intractable dilemma.
The American Dream
October 5 – 29, 2023
Fri/Sat 7:30pm
Sun 3:30pm, 7:30pm
Subtext Studio
Venue Space: Madison Street Theater
1010 Madison Street
Oak Park, IL
https://subtextstudiotc.ticketleap.com/the-american-dream-by-juan-ramirez-jr/