The 22+ Weddings of Hugo Multiple @ Teatro Dallas

—Teresa Marrero

Venezuelan-born playwright Gustavo Ott’s world premiere of The 22+ Weddings of Hugo Multiple, written and directed by him, mark his debut as Teatro Dallas’ new artistic director. The event was duly celebrated during the opening of the show on Friday, May 12th with a ceremonial wedding cake and free-flowing champagne for the invitees, and with speeches by Sara Cardona (TD’s development director) and Ott himself.

Cardona (daughter of Teatro Dallas founder Cora Cardona, who began TD with co-founder and husband Jeff Hurst) noted the 40th anniversary of the founding of Teatro Dallas. The upcoming seasons, she remarked, will see a return to the theater’s original intention to take an international approach to theater , including a re-boot of its much-missed international theater festival. Ott and Cora Cardona have known each other for years and seem to share a similar vision. As someone who has followed Teatro Dallas since 1992, this is indeed welcome news.

Ott, an internationally recognized playwright and director, expressed appreciation for the opportunity to return to his origins as a theater maker (rather than a free-lance playwright/director), and spoke of his vision for the future of Teatro Dallas. Teatro Dallas will be showcasing the playwright´s work again on June 21st with the one-night-only show Passport (in Spanish with English subtitles), to be repeated June 24th in Orlando, Florida.

With much anticipation we headed into the Latino Cultural Center’s black box theater, an intimate yet rather expansive space. With little to distance the audience from the actors, this viewing arrangement makes visible even the slightest moves by the actors. Literally, there is no place to hide. This play is basically a parlor comedy with deep philosophical underpinnings.

The set design by Marianery Amin (mentioned in the program as an architect, playwright and actress) did the space justice. The inner sanctum of Hugo Wagner (Jason Hallman) felt modern yet staged realistically with a couch, dining table and chairs. Four tall window-like blinds added architectural interest, and served a double purpose: the audience had a sense of those who were in hiding from the world because of their immigration status, and those inside were able to glimpse the outside world. Upstage, there was a huge colorful wall with maps, hats, and remnants of things Hugo’s former wives and husbands might have left behind.

Yes, I did say wives and husbands.

Ott’s play is based on the true case of a U.S. citizen who married (multiple) people from war-torn or impoverished countries—both women and men. He did this to help them, and did it for free, without asking for payment or anything else. This ever-shifting group is called the Other, both in Ott’s comments and those of social theorists. The Other differ from “us” in their cultural, racial, and religious backgrounds. They are viewed by the in-group who holds power as being aberrant, lacking, and undesirable.

But back to the heart of the matter. He did this “for free,” you say? People usually charge upwards of $10,000 dollars to marry someone for immigration purposes in the U.S. Hugo charges nothing.

This key point is established initially by the Dominican Irene (Alondra Estremera), Hugo’s latest wife, who fled with her boyfriend, with whom she eventually had two children by him (while married to Hugo). Irene, a curvy and flirty young woman used to hanging out with “bad boys,” soon understands Hugo’s innocence. He is not interested in bedding her as a form of payment.

In several time lapses throughout the play, we see a projection on the side of the house that indicates movement in time. Three months earlier we meet Wafa (Laila Kharrat), a Tasmanian Muslin woman who tells the horrific story of how she and her two children migrated from Egypt to Syria and Tunisia before making it to the U.S. She and her family have made “running” as refugees a way of life.

Six months earlier we meet Elmar (Danny Lovelle), a Venezuelan gay writer who becomes Hugo’s husband. Elmar gets some of the play’s headiest lines, and his flamboyant persona is exuberant but not stereotypical.

Everybody has a story beyond what is apparent. Wafa studied medicine before her career was interrupted by war; Irene had a thing for delinquent government officials; and Elmar, well, he has quite a story also.

We don’t actually meet all the wives and husbands (though we hear many of their stories), otherwise the play would have run on for days, as did the play festivals of the ancient Greeks. On opening night Hugo ran approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. With all these weddings one would anticipate some romance, but that aspect of the situation is kept at a discreet minimum. I found this thwarting of expectations refreshing.

With the buildup that Ott’s international reputation and arrival in Dallas have created, I’ve been asked by friends and Latin American theater colleagues “Did you like it?” and “How was it?” If you are a regular reader of my reviews, you know that I do not go there. I can however, comment on some personal observations. The character of Hugo seems to be constructed by the other characters. I understand that. However, Hugo seemed so very bland, almost invisible, in comparison to those who surround him on stage: the characters of Irina, Wafa, and Elmar shine with personality. Is it that the understated U.S. postal worker Hugo only exists for the Other to be the person they need? If so, a fine twist.

The play is funny, and loaded with tons of cultural, philosophical, and poetic references. It is an eminently literary piece that touches on the relevant topics of immigration, and on ethical ones through dramatic representation. It ponders if doing something outside the parameters of the law has its own humanitarian merits. Yet it remains a parlor comedy and as such, is a plot-driven piece in which the characters play their part to create an important collective commentary on world-wide displacements, migrations, and the treatment of Other(s).

The question remains: Why on earth does Hugo Wagner do this for free?

For this answer, you must see the play. As it turns out, Hugo too has a secret. In a world full of self-interest, Hugo Wagner´s altruism seems anachronistic.

The play is in English, translated from the Spanish by Heather L. McKay. With Elena Hurst as the voices of Inspector Sabine and Talita, and Gabriel Scampini the voice of Guard. Sound design by Claudia Jenkins, light design by Joshua Manning, set design/contruction by Nick Brethauer, costumes by Kristin Colaneri, and visual design by Sara Cardona.

Teresa Marrero is Professor of Latin American and Latiné Theater at the University of North Texas.

WHEN: May 12-27, 2023

WHERE: Latino Cultural Center, 2600 Live Oak St., Dallas

WEB: teatrodallas.org