The beauty of Ike Holter’s 2017 play about a young Latino seeking justice after being beaten up by a cop is how deftly Holter avoids the temptation of simple didacticism and instead turns a sensational incident into the catalyst for a complex morality tale. Over 90 taut minutes Holter presents us with a story full of flawed, deep characters. No one in the play is completely honest, and everyone’s motives are tainted. The young man at the center of the drama (played with passion and depth by Alberto Mendoza) is no saint; he stole money from his employer, and he withholds key details from his story (he was drunk, he provoked the fight). We also find out he changed his name from Alejandro to Abe, but he’s no “honest Abe.”
Brown’s casting is strong, and her cast’s performances are multilayered. Gabriela Diaz delivers an exceptionally subtle performance as Abe’s sister, who slowly realizes over the course of the evening how untrustworthy people are (even her brother) and how complicated—and fallen—the world is.
