The digital magazine of New York indie theater
Loading

Crossing Currents

nytheatre.com review by Liz Kimberlin
August 15, 2005

The core idea of Crossing Currents, written and directed by Jorge c. Perez, is a good one and straight from not-so-distant headlines. This production is very sincere in tackling emotionally charged issues that any American of any ethnicity—whether born on these shores or newly immigrated—should find relevant.In Crossing Currents, the Cuban American community of Miami is in an uproar over the court decision to send a little boy back to his father in Cuba rather than let him stay in the U.S., free from the tyranny of Castro’s regime. Popular opinion says the boy, whose mother lost her life in their flight to freedom, should stay in America. But a high school youth, Merlin Santiago, himself the son of a Cuban emigre, begins circulating around his neighborhood his own newspaper that takes the opposite view: the boy belongs back in Cuba with his father. Merlin is exercising his First Amendment rights, which, despite disagreement on the issue, his father Arturo applauds. That is, until Arturo learns that Merlin has published his full name, phone number, and email address in the newspaper, thereby placing the rest of the family in danger. Violence and social rejection quickly turn the Santiago household upside down. Arturo has to make the choice between censoring his young son’s voice for the family’s protection or hold true to the not-so-easy stance: “I may not agree with your belief, but I will defend to the death your right to believe it.”The cast is large with a lot of sub-plots, but the central character of Crossing Currents seems to be Arturo, a Cuban-born, publicly anti-Castro, ex-baseball star incarcerated for three years in a brutal Cuban prison before escaping to the U.S. with his (presently absent) wife and two baby sons. Arturo is excellently played by Gil Ron. I also enjoyed Sam Hale’s performance as Freddy, Arturo’s compassionate, streetwise brother-in-law who helps watch Merlin’s back. As well, Wally Valenti is memorable as a usually placid civil rights attorney who suddenly turns angry and emotional upon learning his daughter is dating one of the “crazy talk” Santiago boys and forbids her to see him again. Lots of cafe con leche gets poured, pizza gets ordered, dinner plates get passed around throughout this (mostly) kitchen sink drama, and there’s a nice, bitchy joke about Jennifer Lopez that everyone in the audience seemed to enjoy.That said, I have to admit honestly that I became frustrated with the show early on. First, the young actors—most significantly the boys playing Arturo’s sons—need to enunciate their dialogue and project their voices more strongly. Their speech was fast and garbled, and even sitting mid-theatre, I couldn’t hear or understand what they were saying half the time. As a result, I suspect I missed some important plot information. Second, Perez has some great ideas and creative ways of expressing them, but the construction of the play is problematic because there are too many short, choppy scenes that distinctly give it more the feel of a screenplay than a live drama intended for the stage.However, if you're interested in this play's conflict, especially from a political point of view, and enjoy a life-affirming message, you might like this show. I had high hopes for Crossing Currents and really wish I could have liked it more.