Review: Esperanza by Rupert Reyes, Esperanza Productions, Austin
by Michael Meigs

Rupert Reyes's script for Esperanza carries all the gentle affection he has always expressed for his community. In my very second Austin theatre review on June 9, 2008, I called his Petra's Sueño "generous-hearted" and his titular character "matter-of-fact, optimistic, and industrious without complaint." Those same qualitites appear in Esperanza, a return venture after he and JoAnn Carreon Reyes retired from theatre work in 2017 and turned over Teatro Vivo to younger hands.

 

 

It's fitting, then, that the reconstituted Austin Arts Hall of Fame has just honored both. Michael Barnes commented on Facebook,

 

After the premiere of Rupert's play, "Esperanza,' produced by JoAnn, they were officially inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame surrounded by friends, family and supporters. Robert Faires delivered a carefully researched speech -- the couple embarked into Latino theater during the 1970s! -- to honor them. The new domestic drama, finely acted by a four-member cast, skates on a timely edge of outrage about the vulnerability of undocumented immigrants, yet returns time and again to the power of love and kindness.

 

In contrast to Reyes's earlier work, this script hums with indignation, focusing on the vulnerability of an undocumented young woman who finds employment and acceptance in the household of an upper middle class family. Lillian and Rolando, a U.S.-citizen couple of Tejano background, are thoroughly anglicized. In opening scenes we witness that couple's anticipation of the upcoming birth of a child and their desolation when their daughter does not survive.

 

As in his previous works, almost all of the script is in colloquial English. Brief exchanges in Spanish occur between young adult female cousins Carla, the U.S. citizen, and Mercedes, in Carla's efficiency apartment. Cherry Mendoz as Carla helps undocumented immigrant Mercedes (Idelisse Collazo) find employment as an aide to Lillian and Rolando. 

 

Karina Dominguez as Lillian is the vibrant heart of this performance. Her range is wide, her emotions convincing, her reactions spontaneous and sincere. Opposite her, Benjamin G. Bazán, a fine actor in his own right, has the thankless task of portraying Rolando, a pobre tipo incarnating the selfishness of the stereotypical Latino male. Rolando's courteous, a bit abashed but well meaning. And a screw-up.  

 

 

Males in this script are frankly useless. Sweet Mercedes gets tangled up with charming Diego, whom she met on a bus ride. We never see the man but learn about him and the affair through the cousins' dialogue. Then comes the outraged phone call from  Diego's wife—and a friendly, tipsy then drunken session between Rolando and Mercedes that culminates in mutual consolation while Lillian, a career woman, is away at a conference.

 

 

Consequences mount. Mercedes discovers she's pregnant. The young women welcome that development and so does Lillian, thinking that it's DIego's child. Elaborate subterfuges and avoidance fail when Rolando manages to arrange a covert paternity test and blindly insists that Mercedes give up the newborn Esperanza ("Hope") to be adopted by him and his wife. This kettle of conflicts and emotions rises to a boil when the cousins come calling to disabuse Lillian. 

 

Esperanza is a sentimental and somewhat sticky tale, the sort of domestic drama featured on Mexican telenovelas. Reyes keeps it focused and tightly contained, however, and establishes a clear, satisfying story arc. The outcome is foreshadowed by the poster image. 

 

A special word of appreciation to Steve Williams for set design. The foreground portrays the middleclass living room; the cousins' apartment is slightly raised at stage center behind it. Williams provides neatly defined, well carpentered and decorated spaces that define the characters and the actions.

 

EXTRA

Click to view the program for Esperanza

 

 

 

 

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Esperanza
by Rupert Reyes
Esperanza Productions

 October 15-24, 2026

October 15-17 performances Thursday-Saturday @ 8pm

October 18 Sunday matinee @ 3pm

 October 21-24 performances Wednesday-Saturday @ 8pm

Trinity Street Players, 4th floor, 901 Trinity Street, Austin

A co-production of Esperanza Producdtions and Trinity St Players

Purchase tickets here