Review: DEFERRED ACTION at the Wyly Theatre

In 2015, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained and deported 69,478 individuals residing within the United States. More than 1.76 million residents of the United States were brought here as undocumented youth, immigrant children who attend school here, work here, and pay taxes here, but whose existence here is considered illegal. While this is a frightening setting for those living with the constant fear of deportation and divided families, this existence hardly registers with the charismatic politician Dale Jenkins, a principal character in David Lozano and Lee Trull's collaborative, political play, Deferred Action.

In 2014 Kevin Moriarty, the Artistic Director at the Dallas Theater Center, sat with David Lozano, the Executive Artistic Director at Cara Mía Theatre Co., and invited Cara Mía to create and co-produce a new play with DTC. They knew they wanted to create something new, something social, something political and engaging, and it wasn't long before they arrived at the subject of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). In 2012, by executive action, President Obama initiated DACA, which provided a work permit and protection from deportation to DREAMers, undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children. The two theater companies worked together and developed a captivating fictional play based on improvisations and character developments by the member actors of both companies.

The play begins with a dim light rising on a solitary woman, clutching her infant baby and hiding from gunshots in the background. This infant, who eventually finds his way to the United States, becomes the face of a group, the face of a movement of DREAMERers. This infant, Javi, rises to represent those tired of waiting to be seen and treated as legal, all due to a powerful interaction with a racist police officer. Deferred Action explores the impact of immigration policy on those it directly affects. Javi, the central character, a young, educated, and well-spoken DREAMer, works with his fiancé, Lisa, to effectuate change, hoping for comprehensive immigration reform. Elizabeth Ramos, Lisa, and Ivan Jasso, Javi, make a dynamic pair, divided yet desperately trying to remain united. They're energy on stage is pervasive, making it quite easy to empathize with the characters in their pursuit to demand the better life that their parents had envisioned for them.

On Thursday evening, the role of Dale Jenkins, a charismatic cross between a charming George W. Bush and a loud-mouthed, racist Donald Trump, was played by a hateable, yet likable, Michael Brusasco. The role is usually played by Steven Michael Walters. After Dale has a vision, which opens his eyes to the plight of immigrant youth in America, he develops a presidential campaign built on immigration reform, shaking up the GOP and American politics in general.

Lozano and Trull write incredibly fluid dialogue, often shifting between Spanish and English, though you don't miss anything significant if your Spanish language skills are lacking. Perhaps a joke or two. The plot develops linearly, with short interruptions by Javi's dreams. Short scenes with chaotic yet beautifully choreographed transitions help demonstrate the desperate lives lived by many DREAMers, caught in between politics, life and love, and used as a wedge issue to divide the country.

Frida Espinosa-Muller personifies the character of Abue, Javi's abuela. Her acting skills are clearly defined as she so appropriately physically displays the pain, anguish, frailty, humility and love that a survivor such as Abue has experienced. Unfortunately, makeup was unable to transition such a youthful actress into an elderly woman and she appeared slightly young for the role. However, because of her strong performance, this incongruence did not distract me from the intensity of the drama.

The omniscient set design and technical aspects of the show, where large doors opened automatically and are backlit with a sense of the spiritual, provides room for the imagination. The minimalism, marked by only a few pieces of furniture integrated across various scenes and locations, was supplemented by spectacular lighting design, which often dictated scene transitions and implied setting. The use of video projections on the walls was a captivating choice, but I couldn't help feeling that it could have been used more effectively. It was simply a prop, if even that. Props and objects are generally given more weight in a play than these projected images and videos.

Deferred Action is the embodiment of the prototypical political play. This is a play about politics and a play pushing a political agenda. Yet it still begs the question, what is the ultimate purpose (art or political change?) and did the creators of this theatrical piece achieve that purpose? Moriarty states that he hopes to "spark a meaningful dialogue in the community." I'm not sure that this play will do just that. It certainly created an interesting conversation afterward during the post-performance discussion with Christie Vela, who played Nancy as the Democratic nominee for president, with a DREAMer whose stories this play is loosely based on, and with about half the audience that chose to stay and discuss it's meaning and impact. But will this play lead to any real community wide dialogue and possibly even action? Perhaps, yet it's unlikely. That has yet to be seen. As a play that is critical of both political parties for their continued inaction on immigration reform, I do feel that there is one crucial element missing from the performance: a lack of a call to action. Okay, so I sympathize with, even empathize with the characters, but what do I do now? Wait for change? This question remained unanswered throughout the play and afterwards during the post-performance discussion.

Regardless of the lack of follow up and progressive action, the play itself was a riveting portrayal of undocumented life in America. The show runs through May 14th at the Wyly Theatre. For tickets and information, visit www.dallastheatercenter.org.

Photo by Karen Almond.

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