Adrian Villegas’ ‘Barrio Daze’ @ Cara Mia Theatre Company
—Teresa Marrero
Cara Mía Theatre Company´s annual Latinidades Festival closed on October 15th with Austin´s The Latino Comedy Project founder Adrian Villegas´ solo monologue Barrio Daze (written, directed and performed by himself). It was interesting to note that in the talkback after the show, Villegas mentioned that he wrote this piece 25 years ago…and it is more relevant now than ever. A comment with which the rather lively audience agreed.
Sunday matinee´s at the Latino Cultural Center´s black box theater played to a full house of largely Latino attendees. The piece began with the fictional character of Dr. Adrian Villegas, doctor or Chicanx, Latinx, Mexican-Americanx, etc. studies. Right off the bat, Villegas poked fun at the ever-changing nomenclatures that wants to codify the many Hispanicities that resist enclosure into a homogenous unit.
The performance follows a day in the life in the barrio (Austin, judging by its street references) through the voices of numerous characters who deliver their stories individually, but eventually overlap. And significantly, this is not just any day, but election day. The senatorial runoff is between the racist Texas Republican gringo Mr. Bubba Jones Wilkins and the local, unaffiliated Manuel Gonzalez Jr. Local radio station KMEX FM (as a visually pleasing video projection in the background) keeps us informed of the progress.
As Dr. Villegas the professor, Villegas makes the historical rounds from Mexican cultures of origins, such as the Maya and the Aztec, to the modern day vato (Chicano), tossing into the mix many prototypical Spanish neologisms like lonche (lunch), trocka (truck), panquekeh (pancakes), and whátchale (look out).
Next, we see the low-paid worker who extols the beauty of big booty women (as opposed to Anglo women who ¨can hide behind a broomstick¨). Audience reaction was particularly enthusiastic here, as there was an audience member who seemed to particularly (and outspokenly) fit the bill.
Next, we meet the prototypical homeless drunk, full of humor and bravado. He did have a family and home once, lost to gentrification and drinking.
Later in the day, at 12:50 p.m. (the show keeps track of the day), we meet the bus driver, an older Mexican American guy who’s felt the pulse of the city for the past 20 years, and watched gentrification take homes away and replace them with unaffordable high-rises.
At round 2:00 p.m. we are entertained with a rock musical performance showcase of ¨La Llorona¨ (the folktale of the Medea-like woman who kills her own children, then weeps eternally for their loss). Except this “Llorona” is set to the music of 1970s rock band The Knack—their “My Sharona.” Brilliant!
After a short intermission, the election day political race comes into focus, giving us a racist diatribe of Bubba Jones Wilkins to his Mexican undocumented gardener (fashioned after Villegas´own father, he said during the talkback).
The ´coconut´ character Salazar comes into view. This term suggests someone who is brown on the outside but white on the inside (a version of the “Oreo” concept). Salazar is the prototypical successful, Republican, self-hating Mexican American—who married an Anglo woman but whose son is still brown enough to suffer bullying at his private school.
This is followed by good guy Manny Gonzalez Jr., the local underdog candidate, whose speech is about valuing youth as future possibilities, and not the nation’s “problem.” This wraps up the performance and…Gonzalez the underdog candidate wins!
Villegas stated his appreciation for the responsive audience, and also called out the value and importance of Dallas´ Latino Cultural Center, something many other cities do not have—a dedicated space for Latino culture.
Some of the audience members questioned why Villegas continues to represent lower class Mexicans as troubled, and successful ones as ´coconut´ sell-outs. To this Villegas responded that, frankly, it makes for better comedy to focus on the dysfunctional types. He also mentioned his many other shows, including last year´s Estar Guars (a spoof on the franchise Star Wars) that was also part of the Latinidades Festival.
The audience genuinely enjoyed this very funny show, and audibly let Villegas know they did. Indeed, there was great rapport between this charismatic and smart performer and his Dallas audience.
The creative team included Ryan Salinas (lighting design and technical operator) and Nick Walker (multimedia production), with voiceovers by Villegas, Mical Trejo, and Leroy Rodirguez.
WHEN: October 12-15, 2023
WHERE: Latino Cultural Center, 2600 Live Oak, Dallas TX
WEB: caramiatheatre.org
Teresa Marrero is Professor of Latin American and Latiné Theater and Cultures in the Spanish Department at the University of North Texas. And yes, she has lived through several iterations of Latin identities nomenclature debates since the 1990s…. From the Latino/a, to the LatinX, and now to the latest version, Latiné.
