Ubuntu Theater Project explores a fresh take on the American Dream in the West Coast premiere of Ed Cardona Jr.’s American Jornalero
Edited by Jessica Vaden
On the corner of Hope and Haven stand six men, waiting. Four of them are jornaleros, day laborers, waiting for the work that may not come. Two are law-abiding, border protecting Minutemen, waiting to indict them with the charge of wanting a better life.
The stage is a sidewalk, a living breathing cement sidewalk. There’s a fence running through it, a trashcan on the corner, and a lone telephone. We’re outside, in what appears to be the courtyard of a warehouse in West Oakland. The lights on 20th Street change to the beat… green to red, red to green… every so often we can see the top of a big rig go by in the distance. This season, Ubuntu Theatre Project is doing site-specific work. They couldn’t have picked a better spot. Not only aesthetically, in reality, for across the street is American Steel, reminding us of the men and women of color who do our labor.
The lights go up, a simple design by Stephanie Anne Johnson; like actual street lights, they seem to serve the purpose of illuminating our way, rather than decorate the space. Marcelo rushes in, played by the wonderfully quirky Cristhian Ayvar. With a bit too much baggage, he clumsily climbs through a hole in the fence. He rushes to answer the phone and we don’t doubt it for a second that the he is Marcelo.
Marcelo has a one track mind, his wife and child are joining him in New York after years of separation. Ayvar carries that weight with him. Is that the call we are waiting for? Or is it work? Is it something more sinister? Illegal even?
Michigan (Juan Berumen) prances in bright and optimistic donning a red plaid shirt, followed by Luis (Jose Rodriguez), the realist who asserts himself as a leader. They both seem interested in the phone as well. What are they waiting for? Who are they waiting for? We are reminded of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, and rather comparably, it’s not really a tangible object that they seem to be waiting for, and whatever it is that they are waiting for, never materializes.
Unlike Godot, the waiting is not monotonous, anything but, because we are soon joined by Montezuma (Benoît Monin). He’s from Belarus, he’s the comic relief, and a lot smarter than he lets us believe. And on the other side of the fence, we meet our central conflict, Mark (Paul Rodrigues), a recently unemployed Brooklynite who has joined the Minutemen; an organization of citizens dedicated to protecting our borders against “illegal” immigration. Mark is being trained by Toby (Ted Zoldan), whose bark is definitely scarier than his bite.
Toby has assigned Mark to this corner, aptly named Hope and Haven, and it is here that Mark butts heads with the four jornaleros. Luis is the most vocal, he’s fiercely suspicious from the get-go, and doesn’t hold back. He knows how to express himself with clarity; he articulates the plight of being a foreigner in your own country with ease. Jose Rodriguez is intense in this role, the actor much like the character, does not hold back. Mark is the villain we hate to love; Paul Rodrigues brings a vulnerability to the role. We can understand why he is here, and we root for Mark, hoping he can learn to understand why each of the other four men are here as well. That they might not be so different after all.
Much like a modern Fitzgerald, Ed Cardona Jr. evokes a strong sense of place while exploring the socioeconomic gaps of our country. Things are left unsaid, yet exposed through strong metaphors. The burning of the American Dream reaches us from the ring of a telephone or the pieces of a fractured fence. The power comes from the humanity that underlies each moment. There’s poignancy, but there’s also humor; the lines are alive. It takes a skilled playwright to be able to write dialogue that makes us laugh, cry, and think all at the same time. Cardona Jr. is a playwright to watch. American Jornalero is part of his trilogy of plays that explore labor and immigration: La Ruta, done in the past as a site-specific piece inside a border crossing van, and yet to be produced Pick Up Pots. All three make for a volume of political and very topical plays that introduce a human voice to the debate.
American Jornalero is directed by Tioni Collins, but if we didn’t know any better, we’d think that there was no director. The direction is truly that flawless; we don’t see the blocks and lines, we just see the realism of the circumstances. It’s hard to imagine that this piece would be anything but the version that Ubuntu Theater Company has created.
And of course, every so often, we get a play whose message is complementary to that of the company producing it. In line with this play’s vision, as always, Ubuntu Theater Project offers pay-what-you-can pricing subscriptions making theatre accessible for everyone in the community. With this play more than ever, it’s truly an important message to send.
American Jornalero runs now through May 6. For more information and pay-what-you-can subscriptions visit www.ubuntutheaterproject.com.
Thanks for the great feedback. One correction: The lighting design was by Stephanie Anne Johnson. Avery Martin did the sound design, and I (Tioni Collins) did the set, props and costumes. Thanks so much!
Fixed it! Apologies for the mistake and thank you 🙂