As someone who hasn’t had many opportunities to experience a play, I was looking forward to watching “En Mi Jardín.”
I went in only knowing what I’d learned from the production’s flyer, which invites us to “imagine having the ability to bring someone back from the dead to have one final conversation.” The production features 13 short plays from emerging playwrights addressing “intersectionality and past traumas.” I was ready for ghostly reunions and heart punching tales.
Before the play started, a member of the production team told the crowd that the upcoming four short stories would be “emotional” and pull on heartstrings.
During the production, some blew snot into their tissues while others shed the “manly” one tear. Meanwhile, a small portion of the crowd quietly watched the events play out on stage; I found myself in this group of the audience.
Black Sheep, Rainbow Sheep. Photo by Rudy Torres.
I experienced this not because I hadn’t felt the emotional impact, but because some stories didn’t hit as hard as they might have for others. Not to discredit the work put into these beautifully crafted tales, but nothing could prepare me for the third play during the second act titled “My Brothers’ Dad.”
“My Brothers’ Dad,” a play written by Martin Barrera and directed by Emmanuel Deleage, is based on a real therapy exercise Barrera did to address trauma he experienced as a young boy.
Barrera says he wrote the play to directly address the toxicity of men, especially from our fathers. “Exposure to violence, whether directly or indirectly, leaves us with pain that can metastasize within our families and greater communities,” Barrera said in a press release.
Barrera said he doesn’t offer answers to this issue, but he hopes to inspire other men to reflect on their experiences and release the pain they’ve held onto. The cast includes Barrera as himself, Juanita Zavaleta as the therapist and Martin Morales as the dad.
This is the story that broke me. It’s a tale that struck too close to home and that caused me to join the “one manly tear” portion of the crowd. Toxic masculinity isn’t a new concept, many of us see it in our male family members or within our peers.
The relationship between a parent and child, in this case a father and son, is something that lingers.
Memories from our youth never truly go away, especially when it sinks deep, magnified by pent up anger and sadness. Fathers are sometimes role models you are assigned to, but that you want nothing to do with. You endure because they’re your blood, and can’t do anything but compare yourself to them for the rest of your life while saying to yourself, “I’ll be nothing like you.”
Seeing Martin Barrera’s character yell at his father hit me deep, especially because his likeness is similar to what my father looks like. While things played out on stage, my mind began to run wild, centering around the idea of this possibly being my future.
I can only believe that it was the intention of the creators of the play to make the members of the audience reflect on themselves.
When Love Isn’t Enough. Photo by Rudy Torres.
Through the performances, some stories will hit deeper than others.However, that is only my opinion, and if this review strikes your interest, then you might as well go and experience the play to see if what I have to say is true.
“En Mi Jardin” runs at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 4 p.m. on Sundays through May 12 at CASA 0101 on (2102 1st Street). Tickets are available for $20-25, and you can purchase them online or by calling the theater’s box office at (323) 263-7684.
