We Stand Before You, Juntas
Few plays can genuinely shock Capitol Hill. This is one of them. Leading-lady-cum-local-playwright
Mari Salinas' script alone is a raw, incisive contribution to Latina literature: less like Sandra Cisneros'
kiddie-safe House on Mango Street and more akin to her Loose Woman with its defiantly sexual spinsters.
Esperanza (Salinas), a Santeria-practicing immigration lawyer, paradoxically refuses to date white men-until
she is forced to test her own prejudices by journalist Victor (Jeff Nelson), a gringo liberal (well, at least
very "420-friendly") who babelfishes Spanish to pretend he is "down." Esperanza's spiritual sisterhood,
the brash but vulnerable Milagro (Oneda Harris), sylphlike Maria (Heide Warner), and contradictory policewoman
Step (Shannon Eyre), intersperse the linear plot with hilarious, lyrical vignettes of politically charged spoken
word and flashbacks that weave around Leon (Roi-Martin Brown), a captivating ghetto Bukowski with a voice beautiful
enough to make detox center staff weep while mopping up his vomit. Director Natalya Brusilovsky, who discovered
half the cast in a bar, fostered a remarkable onstage ambience. The players don't employ a contrived set of
skills to act their parts so much as they naturally are their parts; you could effortlessly imagine the characters
walking off the stage and into our everyday lives. Ultimately, this play challenges anyone to question where they
reside on the immigration/discrimination divide.
~ Seattleweekly.com