THE HANGOVER REPORT – Victor I. Cazares’s visually busy AMERICAN (TELE)VISIONS distills the American Dream through the deceiving lens of television, video games, and consumerism

Raúl Castillo, Clew, Bianca “b” Norwood, and Elia Monte-Brown in New York Theatre Workshop and Theater Mitu’s co-production of “american (tele)visions” by Victor I. Cazares (photo by Joan Marcus).

Last night, New York Theatre Workshop commenced its fall season with the official opening of Victor I. Cazares’s american (tele)visions, which is being co-presented by Brooklyn-based Theater Mitu. Set during the 1990s in a vague, desolate town somewhere in America, Mr. Casares’s new play tells the story of an undocumented family from Mexico who — due to various economic and cultural challenges they face in their process of acclimating to American society — slip farther and farther away from the generic (and deceiving) vision of the American Dream onto which they’ve pinned their hopes and aspirations for the future.

Much of american (tele)visions is artificially distilled through the lens of television, early pixelated video games, and general American consumerism — a busy, stylized approach, which in my opinion both alienates and heightens the drama and issues at hand. Indeed, although I was amused by the hyperactive storytelling device and impressed by its execution, a part of me suspects that a more naturalistic mode would have served the drama more potently. At the same time, the playwright has created vivid multiverses into which the characters can slip in and out of as dictated by the direness of their circumstances. Ultimately, the play strikes a hopeful and empowering note by way of the resolution of the story of one of the family members.

Rubén Polendo has directed a visually busy production that puts an emphasis on high polish multimedia flourishes (not surprising, given that american (tele)visions is a Theater Mitu co-production). The stage is dominated by four large cubes that act as television stand-ins onto which video content (both live capture and pre-recorded) are strikingly projected; these monolithic structures also open up to reveal carefully designed physical scenic backdrops against which a number of scenes are played out. The acting from the four-strong cast is commendable all around, particularly the performers playing the younger characters (Clew, Ryan J. Haddad, and Bianca “b” Norwood give their queer-leaning characters winning spunk and resilience).

RECOMMENDED

AMERICAN (TELE)VISIONS
Off-Broadway, Play
New York Theatre Workshop
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 16

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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