“I’M Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” reviewed by Julia W. Rath

Recommended ***

“How do we live with the secrets locked inside of us?”

In “I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter”, Olga Reyes, a 22-year-old woman of Mexican descent, is accidentally killed when a semi runs over her on a Chicago street. After her untimely death, her 15-year-old sister Julia (Karen Rodriguez) misses her terribly and tries to learn as much as she can about her. In fact, her older sister’s life turns out to be quite a mystery. Julia constantly compares herself to Olga, whom she believes was as close to her family’s concept of perfection as possible—until she determines that her sister was far less perfect than she and her family had ever realized.

This 110-minute audio-only production is graphic. It is told through the eyes of a highly introspective and philosophical young woman—Julia–who especially loves her high school English class and wants to go to college and become a writer. In fact, she thinks of herself as the black sheep of the family and compares herself to famous characters from novels, like Jane Eyre, Holden Caulfield, and Ponyboy Curtis. But can she find the intestinal fortitude to pursue her dreams? This young woman is torn between two cultures: the mainstream American and the Latinx. Born in this country, her parents are first-generation undocumented migrants from Mexico, who had to adjust to life in Chicago. Her mother cleans houses for a living, and Julia thinks of herself as being “a poor Mexican” as she interacts with the white population at-large. She constantly deals with the contrasts between herself and her fellow Latinx classmates, especially when they deal with matters of sex and sexuality. Throughout the tale, she judges herself against her family’s idealistic expectations for her life and her future, and regularly makes choices as to which aspects of her culture to accept and which ones to reject. The first-person narrative and the strong focus on Julia’s character development are clearly the desired outcome on the part of co-directors Sandra Marquez and Audrey Francis.

“I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” was adapted by Isaac Gómez from Erika L. Sánchez’s novel of the same name. Gómez’s adaptation retains much of the tone of the original expository writing, with Julia often providing highly personal commentary about her situation, akin to stream of consciousness or reading from her diary. This is unlike what we are normally accustomed to in the average play, where characters rarely talk in long monologues about themselves—and where their thoughts and feelings generally come across via acting and dialogue. When this particular adapted script focuses so tightly on Julia’s inner world—sometimes too tightly—it occasionally diverts us from the main plot. Of course, one advantage of having the protagonist narrate her own experience is that we don’t have to rely on stage directions being read to us in order to understand the action. However, the overall effect is that the show is more like listening to an audio book being read to us than listening to an audio-only play. One thing that both media have in common, however, is that different readers can read the lines spoken by each of the characters. In this presentation, supporting cast members include: Charín Álvarez, Eddie Martinez, Peter Moore, Leslie Sophia Perez, Bianca Phipps, Robert Quintanilla and Harrison Weger. Sound design by Matthew Chapman is extraordinary and could not have been done any better.

This audio presentation is available on streaming video through the educational division of the Steppenwolf Theatre and is being recommended for grades 9 and up. There is even an accompanying study guide to match. The show is intended to serve as a guide for young people to learn to focus in on their own feelings, and it begs the question of how much family, community, educators, and friends can (or should) be involved in supporting and guiding teens through this difficult period as they winnow their way through life. But if I were in high school and heard this presentation, I wouldn’t be able to breathe by the end. Teenage life is rough and fraught with anxiety and questioning one’s identity and place in the universe—not to mention dealing with the onset of puberty and deciding on possible career choices. But the sheer amount of adversity faced by Julia all at once is overwhelming, to the point of being exasperating. The events and revelations are upsetting enough and so much has been crammed into this presentation that I had to constantly stop and start the stream. But at the same time, everything unfolds much too slowly. This seems like a contradiction at first blush, but there is some mismatch between the action and the dialogue, which affects the pacing. My most frequent thought was, “Are all these words necessary to tell this story?”, that is, until we reach a particular point in the tale where words are not enough.

In short, “I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” makes a thought-provoking statement about diverse cultures living together and the need for teenagers to learn how to find themselves, their calling in life, their life partners, and their life path. But it’s also a more specific story about some terrible circumstances being faced by a young Hispanic woman living in Chicago. As the program guide states, “Please be advised, the play speaks about depression, self-harm, sexual trauma and domestic violence. The play also contains strong language, pot-smoking, the sounds of gunfire and frank conversations about sex.” Yet there are lots of family secrets revealed and poignant reflections made. Which culture wins out for Julia, or both? And does she reach her goal? My advice is not to focus too tightly on the day-to-day minutiae, and then the story will make more sense, flow better, and not seem so gloomy. Then, depending on one’s perspective, it does end on a high note.

This audio-only play is a part of the Steppenwolf for Young Adults Theatre and available on videostream through their website https://www.steppenwolf.org/tickets–events/seasons/2020-21/perfect-mexican-daughter/ through August 31, 2021.

It is available FREE for all educators to share with their students in grades 9 and above, “including classroom teachers, youth mentors, leaders of after-school programs for youth, leaders of unschoolers or homeschoolers groups, etc. College groups are welcome!” A study guide is also available. For those who are not students or educators, the show can be listened to after purchase of a Steppenwolf NOW membership. Please see the website for more information.

To learn more about other shows being offered by the Steppenwolf Theatre, please go to: https://www.steppenwolf.org/.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at ” I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter”.