Photos by Frederick Ezeala

El Otro

By Octavio Solis

Directed by Alyssa Carasco

Produced by Teatro Dallas

Audience Rating: M for mature themes and content

Running Time: 2 hours with a 10 minute intermission

Accessible Seating: Available

Hearing Devices: Not Available

Sensory Friendly Showing: Not Available

ASL Showing: Not Available

Sound Level: Comfortable Sound Level

Noises and Visuals to Prepare For: Blood, Violence, Depiction of Death, Domestic Abuse, Gun with Gunshots

Reviewed by Natalie Shaw

"Will the real father, please rise?" --Octavio Solis on El Otro

We belong to our past. For better or worse, it's ours. We belong to our past, but we also belong to our future and the present. Within the three, we have an eternal existence--a circular existence that supersedes any timeline of beginning-to-end. If one is in question, we are stuck, much like the hands of a clock that tick in place, before the battery dies--tick-tick-tick--trapped within its own trauma, unable to move forward. Written by Octavio Solis' El Otro and directed by Alyssa Carasco, El Otro suspends our understanding of how a play should behave. Beginning-middle-end, in the linear fashion is just not Solis' style, and we are grateful for it! Instead, we are taken around a global narrative, in which past, present and future exist as one, and Fate brands its mark.

Mexican folklore and culture is interwoven in this gun-slinging Western between two men fighting over a girl--a young girl--their daughter, and indirectly her mother, as well. Romy's (Bethany Mejorado) quest to retrieve her birthday gift from birth-father, Lupe (Alex Camacho,) with guardian/step-father, Ben (Eduardo Velez III,) leads them on a wild-goose chase, plodding through twenty feet of water across the river to Lupe's freedom land, "El Otro," or the other side. Border Officer, Brian Vigen is unsuccessful in holding Lupe back from crossing the river, having lost his moral compass. In El Otro, Lupe is hidden, like a child in a secret hideout; (No Moms allowed,) free from rules, authority and repercussions for his sins. Camacho's Lupe possesses a brassy recklessness and violence, attempting to set himself above Velez's calculated bravery within Ben. Mejorado's Romy, or "La Romy," as she refers to herself is spunky and stubborn in her pursuits; seeking the same daring adventures that Lupe does, desperate to impress him with her impulsive grit. When he's not portraying the Border Officer, Vigen doubles as Ross, the tense and jittery compadre to the domineering Lupe, who seeks to measure up.

When Ben hasn't returned home from retrieving Romy at Lupe's residence, maternal instinct kicks in and Nina (Zarina Izel Garza) knows something is wrong. Garza's Nina is thick-skinned and abruptly reactionary to Lupe's pranks, given her experienced suffering and previous entanglements with him. She begins intuitively tracking the path to her daughter, all the way across the river. Within this sequence of events, the past also unfolds in scenes that disrupt our consecutive outline. El Charro (Rudy Lopez) unveils the haunting history that leads to Romy's existence and destiny. We are transported back into moments of time, where Lupe paints Romy's nursery before she is born; neighbors Alma (Dr. Marta M. Torres) and Polo (Javier Carmona) bring him devastating news; Nina and Lupe are intoxicated by their passion for one another, and where Nina fires an unrelenting bullet--barely missing Lupe's head. Lopez's El Charro is comedically sinister, with sharp quips as he savors each mark he makes on the characters in his new melodrama. Torres' Alma is frightfully patient, terrified of Lupe's outbursts, until she finds her voice. And Carmona's Polo is similarly patient and fearful of Lupe, until his truth is revealed, in which he becomes honorably mournful.

Director Alyssa Carrasco has selected an excellent cast, creative and collaborative team for Octavio Solis' enchantingly striking script! Carrasco leans into the prolific language of the text to tell this unique narrative and flesh-out these complex characters. Justin Locklear's set designer is picturesque in every sense of the word, creating depth and dimension at every angle and utilizing vertical space, textiles and textures magnificently. Lighting design by Gerry Guerrero and sound design by Devin Foster serve to add a further dimension, especially in the vertical depths in the river scenes. Eduardo Velez III acts as music composer and guitarist, adding eloquent melodies behind lyrics sung acapella or accompanied that resonate deeply with the narrative.

Teatro Dallas celebrates Hispanic culture with this brilliant production of El Otro, which takes us on a deeply-rooted expedition into a unique awareness that manipulates our senses and understanding of a storyline; one that both recognizes Mexican-American traditions and engages aspects of Mexican folklore.

For more on El Otro at Teatro Dallas, listen to our Spotlight On! podcast episode on Spotify! (Listen, Follow, Share!) Hear from Octavio Solis, himself and Artistic Producer, Mac Welch, following their Opening Night! If you missed opening weekend, there's still time to catch El Otro until May 31st. Tickets can be purchased at teatrodallas.org

Enjoy the Show!

Natalie