Monterey and Maximilliano are deep in the throes of first love. The setting is East Los Angeles in 1971 and this heartfelt emotion is one that’s easy to identify with for audiences says director Brenda Palestina.
But amid the background of the Vietnam War, omens of machismo start to surface and confound that love for young Mexican-American Monterey in That Drive Thru Monterey by playwright Matthew Paul Olmos.
Not only is this a world premiere at Stages but it’s also the first time ever that a full-scale play production has been launched from a reading in the Stages Sin Muros Festival.
“This play is pretty special for a few reasons,” Palestina says. “There’s these two really endearing characters at the heart of it. Monterey (Sophia Marcelle ) and Maximilliano (Matthew Martinez). We fall in love with them really easily. It’s this geeky, tender love story that’s easy to connect with I think. And even when our hearts are broken later it still feels so good to love them.”
But it’s not just a love story Palestina points out.
“It’s really about all the loves of Monterey’s life and that includes her mother and her father and her siblings and her romantic connections. But there’s also this political messaging underneath it all about the effects of the draft and the Vietnam War on this community of color in East LA in the ‘70s. There’s a lot of ways in with this play that I think people get really attached to.”
Others in the cast for this play with a running time of 2-1/2 hours include Elissa Cuellar as Lydia, Marissa Castillo as Lupe and Antonio Lasanta as Timoteo.
Palestina first became involved with the play two years ago when she was asked to direct a reading of it in the 2024 Sin Muros festival.
“Before it came to Sin Muros this play was workshopped at several places,” she says. Since then it’s had some tweaks but remains essentially the play they first saw, she says.
An essential element of this play is its theatricality, Palestina says, adding that this is something she is drawn to as a director.
“This is a Latino story but it’s not just a Latino story. The magical part of it is also what kind of connects us to a greater community.,” Palestina says. “We see Latinos in their natural environment and we can talk about the socioeconomic circumstances of the time without this play being a tragic immigration story or a deportation story.
“There’s a respect for the mythical and there’s a respect for the magical and a respect for things we can’t understand. In Hispanic culture we’ve remained in contact with the mythical and really kind of lean into it.”
Performances are scheduled for May 8 through June 7 at 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at Stages at the Gordy, 800 Rosine.Preview performances May 8-13. For more information, call 713-527-0123 or visit stageshouston.com. $30-$89.
