American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose, From Richard Montoya and Culture Clash

Comments (0) By Steven Leigh Morris Thursday, Mar 15 2012

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In all of these sketches, and others, Juan Jose is haunted by the memory of the pregnant wife (Beatriz, again) he left behind in Mexico for his long walk north. She’s like the Madonna, appearing as different characters in his dream, guiding him, reminding him of somebody and something he’s willing to surrender for an unknowable future. This adds a blanket of almost theological romanticism over all the jokes and ad libs.

By the time he awakens to the realities of his exam, Juan Jose is having serious doubts about whether he even wants to become a U.S. citizen. But no worries: Turning down citizenship would be like pissing on the pitcher’s mound of Dodger Stadium, simply un-American.

PHOTO BY CRAIG SCHWARTZ

Rene Millan and Stephanie Beatriz in American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose

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Kirk Douglas Theatre

9820 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232

Category: Theaters

Region: Culver City

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Bonney’s staging, with her fine ensemble of nine, most playing multiple characters, nimbly blend the satirical, the farcical and the tender.

Texas was and remains a largely Christian state, yet the U.S. Justice Department has had to strike down the Texas legislature’s attempt to squelch voter fraud, which the feds regard as bogus and which disenfranchises minority voters. The interpretation of Christianity and the U.S. Constitution has always been a net of far-flung opposites. The unanswerable questions are fundamental: Who gets in to vote? Who gets in to live? Who gets into heaven?

American Night is, at its core, a descendent of the allegorical, medieval Christian morality play Everyman. This is the story of a fellow at whom God is angry (for ignoring Him) and sentences him to death. But death isn’t the end of anything in the Middle Ages. It’s the beginning of an eternity in heaven or hell. Everyman’s task is to gather witnesses to how he lived his life in order to provide evidence for Saint Peter, who will determine his final destination. American Night is simply an inversion of that theme: Juan Jose isn’t on trial, but El Norte is. At stake, and at issue, is whether Juan Jose, in becoming an American, can enter heaven or will be relegated to hell.

In Everyman, the only character willing to follow the title character into the grave to meet Saint Peter is Good Deeds. Our Good Deeds follow us everywhere, the play preaches. Kindness is Christian. Kindness is Viola Pettus.

Just try to be kind, both plays say. And where’s the harm in that?

AMERICAN NIGHT: THE BALLAD OF JUAN JOSE | By Richard Montoya, developed by Culture Clash and Jo Bonney | Presented by Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City | Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m. | Through April 1 | (213) 628-2772 | centertheatregroup.org