With now less than four weeks before the Nov. 5 presidential election, not one group can be considered by either party in this contentious race as a slam dunk, most especially the Latino vote – which is the subject of a play that speaks of its diversity in its title itself – “The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx/Latiné Vote,” now in its final weeks at the Theatricum Botanticum.
Directed by Bernardo Cubría and Willow Geer, the play is a satirical yet serious work, very much worth seeing.
Cubría who is also the playwright, has placed on stage what the community itself knows, but so many politicos and others still fail to understand, the Latino community can never be taken for granted by any political party.
It’s no secret that there has yet to even be a term that can correctly describe this large and ever growing United States population, so people often begrudgingly pick the one they relate to the most. Still, everyone agrees that all terms and references are very flawed. After all, everyone is a reflection of their own life experiences and no one wants to be pigeon holed or stereotyped.
“This play is about dispelling the ridiculous notion of the Latino monolith,” said Cubría. “Four years ago I dealt with my election anxiety by arguing with strangers on Twitter and frankly, it was a massive waste of my time.
“So this year I decided that rather than screaming into the internet void, I wanted to do something more positive. So I took the advice of one of my heroes, Garry Shandling, who used to say, ‘Don’t get mad, get funny,’ and I wrote a comedic play instead,” Cubría explained.
“In 2016 when Trump got elected, I started getting all these text messages from friends of mine, most of whom were white Americans, and they were like, ‘Dude, how could 30% of Latinos or Hispanic people vote for Trump?’” says Cubría. “I was offended by their question; why would they expect every single Latino or Hispanic person to think and vote the exact same way?”
It has repeatedly been pointed out that the Latino demographic which numbers nearly 61 million people is made up of some who have lived in the USA for generations who are now predominantly English speakers yet hold tightly to a culture that is now a blend and evolution of Chicano/a activism and U.S. education that historically discouraged Spanish to be spoken, while so many others may be more recent immigrants from Latin America, Mexico, Central and South America who have dreams for their children to succeed, speak English and fold into American life even though they feel the sting of racism and the current tide of political scapegoating. And then there are the “Dreamers” and everything in between with the nuances among Latinos from the west coast to the east coast, city to city and state to state.
With people whose families may originally came from Tijuana to Buenos Aires, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Spain, Cubría asks, “how can they see us as one single entity?”
This play also tackles the hard choices and experiences that Latinos face each day as professionals and laborers in the workforce and puts questions to the audience who eagerly participate. The audience in the outdoor theater often breaks out into laughter.
At the same time, Cubría and Geer juxtaposes a Chicana professor as a main character into the play with a desire to be a mother but needs to be able to pay for the high cost of IVF that she can do by working with a political party who needs and wants the magic key to the “Latino vote.” She is torn with her loyalties.
The play has uniquely been running in other cities simultaneously and has accomplished the unexpected. It has moved the needle much more than going toe to toe online has ever done.
“I’m really happy to have taken this approach this time, because, you know, I’ve received emails and letters from people saying that they changed their vote, that they’re registered to vote when they weren’t going to vote.” He also has received emails from women on their journey with IVF.
Starting this week vote by mail ballots can be returned by mail, at a drop-off location or at your county elections office.
The county elections office started mailing ballots out to registered voters on Oct. 7.
There are only two more performances to go on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m. (Prologue Discussion at 6:30 p.m.) and Saturday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum is at 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd. Topanga. For ticket information go to: https://theatricum.com/the-vote/.