Aztlán
An Intriguing World Premiere of Luis Alfaro's Latest at Magic Theatre
By: Victor Cordell - Jul 02, 2025
The history of the United States builds largely on the motifs of freeing ourselves from British rule and conquering the Native American populations before and after Independence. The American Southwest deviates from that tradition with a history of Spanish and then Mexican control of the region, complete with Hispanic populations, preceding the Southwestern states’ admittance into the Union.
Aztlán is the ancestral home to the Aztec people, perhaps a millennium ago. Its location is unknown, and while the Aztecs thrived mostly in central Mexico, some believe that Aztlán reached into California. This link forms the foundation for Luis Alfaro’s engaging world premiere play at Magic Theatre. The dramatic opening with spirit dancing on a low-lit stage depicts possible ritual behaviors of the people.
Central to the play is the character named Aztlán, portrayed as a highly volatile young man diagnosed with dangerous anger and impulse control issues when a pre-teen. Having later spent nine years in prison for a robbery that was not consummated and a related death by heart attack that he tried to prevent, his resentment is understandable, but his uncontrolled and wide-ranging rage is self-destructive.
Returning to his roots, which are those of the playwright, Aztlán tries to reconstruct his life in Delano, a small city in the Central Valley of California. However, he faces the obstacles that only an ex-con on parole confronts – a maze of restrictions on movement and activities and financial precariousness that make it difficult to carve out a viable livelihood.
A magnetic Daniel Duque-Estrada seethes as the violent hothead whose strings are pulled unmercifully by a sadistic parole officer. Ogie Zulueta captures the cruelty of Aguila, the mocking PO, who rejects multiple urine samples, only to require Aztlán to come in earlier for the next one. Never mind the unsatisfactory schedules and unreliability of the buses to get him in for a preposterous 4:00 a.m. appointment.
Aztlán is equally jerked around with his housing. In one of the few light touches in the play, Juan Amador deftly portrays his twin landlords with opposite personalities, changing personas by twirling from one side of Aztlán to the other, reversing his baseball cap, and changing his affect.
A large part of the narrative concerns Aztlán trying to reconnect with his family, though his mean father is dead, and his vacuous, self-serving mother played disdainfully by Catherine Castellanos, never communicated with him while he was in prison. His hope is in his older brother, Mickey, who always stood up for him when he was a kid. But people grow up, change, take on different roles in the life cycle, move on, and more, and the younger brother doesn’t really know what to expect.
Aztlán excels as a case study in post-incarceration challenges and as an almost harrowing study of a man so explosive that randomly coming into contact with him could result in life alteration. What is most lacking is a strong connection between the protagonist’s narrative and the cultural theme. The interludes with Aztec myth are energetic and appealing with their visual and aural power. In addition, there are references to “when we were kings” and the disrespect that Mexican-Americans suffer in modern times. But Aztlán’s woes are not well tied to loss of cultural agency or discrimination from the majority community. Rather, he, his family, and the people around him just seem to be a clutch of bad characters who could be of any ethnicity in any place.
Another issue is that while a playwright’s stage directions in the script may provide clarification, audience members don’t have the luxury of seeing them or possibly the time to process brief introductions. Thus, with characters like Huitzil, it is unclear whether she is real or mythic or Aztlán’s dream, and with Martina (Castellanos again) in her long, absorbing soliloquy, whether she is historical or simply “on” something.
The acting is excellent throughout. In addition to those mentioned, the other actors and their main roles are Gabriela Guadelupe as Huitzil and Sean San Jose as Mickey and the Spirit. Kinan Valdez directs with a sure hand, despite the major changes that took place up until hours and even minutes before opening. Tanya Orellana’s simple but striking scenic design is enhanced by Alejandro Acosta’s sharp and eerie lighting, Joan Osato’s projections, and David Arevalo’s costumes. Christopher Sauceda’s sound adds an ominous dimension.
Aztlán, a world premiere written by Luis Alfaro, is produced by Magic Theatre and plays at Fort Mason, Building D, 2 Marina Blvd., San Francisco, CA through July 13, 2025.