On January, 31st the ethnic studies department of Sahuaro took a field trip to see Ruben C. Gonzales’s production of La Esquinita, USA. The play is a one-man show starring Ruban C. Gonzalez. Though the thought of watching only one actor may bore some people, the play instantly enchants the audience with great strong energy from the actor. La Esquinita, USA has toured off-Broadway with many groups such as Aurora Theatre, Su Teatro Denover, and La Pena Cultural Center San Antonio  as part of the inaugural Encuentro 2014, which has been the largest Latino theatre in the U.S. for over forty years.

Ruben C. Gonzalez started writing this play in 2007 while he was working as a substitute teacher in south-east LA to support his acting career. One of the main characters of the play was inspired by one of his students named Daniel. Daniel had an addiction to crystal meth and avoided school, telling Gonzalez he was having problems with lead in his blood. “I first went along with it because he did look sickly, but when I asked him to produce an excuse the doctor’s note seemed fishy…I called his house one day, and it was then that I found out the truth. His mother said it was a lie. He was doing pookie,” said Gonzalez.

It is because of how personal and intimate this play is that an audience can connect with it easily. There are many other aspects from Gonzalez’s life that he chose to include in his writing process. The story takes place in a primarily Mexican-American and Black-American town where most people worked for a factory. Gonzalez is from Los Angeles and is one of the five children of Mexican immigrants from the central-western state of Colima.

“The play was fantastic. It was totally an out-of-the-box performance!”says Gaby Reynaga, a senior at Sahuaro who went on the field trip. If you have the time, be sure to experience his performance. There are no more performances in Tucson, but there are more in Phoenix until 25th of February. For price information and tickets click the link below.

http://www.arizonatheatre.org/show/la-esquinita-usa/