Diandra Reviews It All

If there is one thing you should know about Latino culture, especially Puerto Rican culture, is that we laugh even at sadness. We treat traumas with jokes believing they can cure or alleviate the pain of serious issues. Growing Up Gonzales, written and directed by Felix Rojas and solely starring Andres “Chulisi” Rodriguez, is a hilarious play about two Nuyorican brothers growing up in 1970’s Bronx. Yet, more importantly, it is a that brings to life the power of humor in healing ourselves or, at least, making ourselves strong enough to start the process, especially in terms of letting go.

Growing Up Gonzales is a one-man play with two characters: brothers Johnny and Cisco. Rodriguez is brilliant in giving each character a difference vocally, physically, and spiritually. Johnny has a deeper tone and darkness compared to the quieter, more idyllic Cisco. Although both shared their childhood together, when Johnny appears there is a sense of a soulful shadow. He is a drug addict entering the recently deceased Cisco’s apartment to clean it up, of which he finds his brother’s journals ( and his pills). From there, time-warps occur, in which Johnny and, at times Cisco, relive their funniest and cruelest moments of childhood. From a shoplifting of chickens gone hilariously wrong to “chancleta” tales or their aunts beating up of a mistress who DARED to come to their philandering uncle’s wake, the crowd laughed till they rolled at the cultural and spiritual truths Rodriguez managed to put in this brisk 80 minute play. Rodriguez was excellent in breeding the audience’s attachment to both brothers. He bantered with the crowd, which only charmed them more, and made you feel pity for two people/ characters that made mistakes according to the ones they learned.

It is clear that writer Felix Rojas has a deep love for his own family, as you vicariously see in Johnny and Cisco’s eyes/ words when talking about their grandma and mother. These women made sure to steer these boys into better men, but you cannot help but see a paternal pathos brewing between Cisco and Johnny’s relationship with each other and the world. From how Johnny “toughens up” Cisco as a child to the eventual separation of communication between the brothers, you witness that Cisco and Johnny can make fun of their past and their family’s tragedies but also repeat them. Johnny’s drug addiction truly stood out as as proof that a family’s history be repetitive, and how witnessing the murder of their own drug-addicted dad, as a children, steered the brothers into an odd relationship with his ghost. There is not much to be said about their father beyond his addiction and murder, which is enough to have both characters’ lives seemingly defined by how they avoid, ignore, or go straight into their fathers’ legacy. I have heard it said that the most important person to a boy’s growth into a man is their father, and, again, seeing Johnny struggle with addiction made me realize that. For all the love Cisco and Johnny had for each other and life, they seemingly learned that getting better comes from getting hurt. It is the hits that made them stronger, but with how light Rodriguez portrays Johnny and Cisco, I could not help but want more good things to have made them stronger, as well. Maybe, that is the point of Growing Up Gonzales; some people or cultures truly deserve better in their treatment and offerings from life. Yet, until that happens, the best either can do is laugh. For More On Growing Up Gonzales Click Here. It plays every Saturday at 8PM until August 12 at The Actors’ Temple Theater located on 339 WEST 47TH STREET, BETWEEN 8TH & 9TH AVENUES, NEW YORK.