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Javier David in foreground, with (l to r): Jaime José Hernández, Juan Arturo, Gabe Martínez in Oedipus El Rey; directed by Loretta Greco; photo by Marc J. Franklin
BOSTON — I am not a theater reviewer, nor do I pretend to be one, but about three weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a production of Oedipus El Rey at the Huntington’s Calderwood Pavilion, and since then, I can’t stop thinking about the performance.
Probably because for a city like Boston, so East Coast, in a South End neighborhood with a strong Puerto Rican history and presence, I don’t think I ever saw an ensemble of six Latinos with West Coast Chicano vibes on a stage at the same time.
But that is what this stunning and provocative play by Chicano playwright Luis Alfaro gave me on a night in the city I have called home since the early 90s. Brushing up on my Greek tragedy motifs before I showed up at the venue, I thought this retelling of Oedipus (do I really need to summarize that story?) would feel forced and trite. I was completely wrong. The play sucked me in the moment a bunch of vatos in a California state penitentiary, a modern-day chorus, took over the stage and set up a world of family, betrayal, love, anger, disappointment, and yes, even joy.
Alfaro’s Brilliance
Luis Alfaro is one of the most important Chicano playwrights working in American theater today. Oedipus El Rey is part of his Greek Trilogy, which reimagines Sophocles and Euripides through the lens of Chicano and Latino communities in Los Angeles. In this play, Oedipus is a young man released from the California prison system who dreams of rewriting his own story, only to find himself unable to escape an ancient prophecy surrounding his birth. The play blends Sophocles’ original structure with the Chicano tradition, dark humor, and the lived realities of incarceration and barrio life. Oedipus El Rey first premiered at the Magic Theatre in 2010 and was a highly praised Off-Broadway production at The Public Theater in 2017.
“I always wished that this play’s themes would lose their resonance as we continue to practice democracy in our culture,” Alfaro said in a media release about the Boston run. “Instead, our reliance on the prison industrial complex has continued to grow and become a fabric of American life. The classic Greek play asks us one question of how we make society, ‘Is it destiny or is it fate?’ and we continue to wrestle with these ideas in our public spaces of inquiry, the theatre being one of vital spirituality and importance.”
Whoah.
As for the play’s ensemble, I couldn’t pick one favorite. They are all stellar. Come for the Greek tragedy but stay for the culture, especially a wedding scene that made me feel like I was back in some L.A. backyard.
Juan Arturo (Oedipus), Gabe Martínez (Laius/El Coro), Melisa Soledad Pereyra (Jocasta/Esfinge), Jaime José Hernández (Creon/El Coro), Victor Almanzar (Tiresias/El Coro), and Javier David (El Sobador/El Cao/Fight Captain) make up an ensemble I could watch all day.
One more thing to know: there is a nude scene, the moment when Oedipus and Jocasta are together.
Not a Boston “One-off”
Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco directed the play’s original world premiere. This production was built specifically for Boston, marking a reunion of Greco and Alfaro roughly 16 years after that collaboration.
“Luis is our guide,” Greco told The Latino Newsletter. “He is the master. He’s the maestro of all of this.”
Greco also brought in Adi Cabral, a Chicano dialect expert, as a voice and dialect coach whose work was evident in every scene. You don’t hear a lot of L.A. in Boston and it was joyful.
Greco came to the Huntington after 12 years at the Magic Theatre, and she has made clear this is not a one-time experiment when it comes to more Latino-centric performances. “We’re just getting started,” she told me. “This is not a one-off.”
She described opening night as three-quarters Latino, young, and full of people who had never encountered the Oedipus myth before. They came in loud and giddy, but by the end, they were moved.
"We worked on worldbuilding from day one," Greco said. "We gotta pull everybody around us in the audience. They've gotta become gente."
Whether you are in Boston or not, this is the kind of work that deserves to be seen. If you can get to the Calderwood by Sunday, go. If not, keep an eye out for wherever this production travels next.
Walking out that Thursday night in May, I overheard someone say: “That was a retelling I never saw coming, and I’m glad I saw it.”
Me too.
The Boston run of Oedipus El Rey ends this Sunday, June 14, at The Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St. Run time is 100 minutes with no intermission. Tickets start at $29. Student tickets are $25.
The show is available to stream online at huntingtontheatre.org through July 12.
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Julio Ricardo Varela is the founder of The Latino Newsletter. He is also its current part-time publisher and executive director. He edited and published this edition.
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