CJ, an ASpanglish Play (WORLD PREMIERE) at Ophelia's Jump

By Mercedes Floresislas, Director to be determined

The play re-imagines A Christmas Carol as a Mexican-American coming of age story. Carolina Juarez (CJ) is the disaffected teenage daughter of a woman who struggles with depression and drug addiction. CJ is temporarily sent to stay with her aunt and Deaf grandmother who suffers from dementia. CJ, who speaks little Spanish and no ASL, cannot communicate with her Grandmother and wants little to do with her family. During a teenage tantrum, she destroys a stuffed monkey beloved by her grandmother, bringing the toy to life and ushering in a series of Aztec deities who teach CJ about her Mexican heritage and her grandmother’s life, giving her a new understanding of the many struggles that her grandmother endured as a young Deaf Latina trying to raise her baby. CJ finds an understanding and appreciation for her grandmother and for own culture and learns that communication comes in many forms.