A Mexican Trilogy

"A Mexican Trilogy: An American Story," presented by the Latino Theater Company, was a clever production written by Evelina Fernandez and directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela. The production, which was separated into three full-length plays, documented the experiences of a Mexican family throughout four generations. In the production, all of the actors had multiple roles, giving them the difficult task of creating a different character for each role. One of the talented actors who was able to achieve this goal was Xavi Moreno. Adding to the overall portrayal of the play, Moreno uses his body and voice as an instrument of dramatic expression to create the characters of Charlie in "Faith" and Juan Francisco in "Charity."

In the first play Moreno

Anytime Moreno stepped on stage as Juan Francisco he always had a smile on his face and was always well dressed, which added a physical attractiveness to his character. His smile along with is great posture showed that he was confident in himself. His stage presence and body language would not only engage the other characters, but also the audience. He would use open gestures when interacting with other characters to reinforce everything he would say. It wasn't until he spoke for the first time, that one would realize how important a role his voice played in in the overall message of the theatrical work. Moreno's character started the play by speaking Spanish, but every other character in the play spoke English. This created reinforced the themes of cultural division and knowing one's family ancestry and heritage. The language barrier that Moreno's character presented at the beginning of the play added depth not only to his character but to all of the others in the scene. It showed that his character was different from everyone else but more appreciative of where he was from. He left Mexico to come to America so that he could have a better life, but he didn't want to leave his old life behind. He recognized where he was from, but respected even more where he was now, and that is what the rest of the characters were missing. They didn't appreciate their ancestry and heritage as much as Juan Francisco did, and this was apparent through their body and lack of knowing how to speak English.
Xavi Moreno truly used his body and voice to portray his characters. Without using these basic skills, the meaning of the production would be lost and the writer's intent would be