September Shoes
(Photo © Terry Shapiro)
In José Cruz Gonzalez’s September Shoes, which is receiving its world premiere production courtesy of the Denver Center Theatre Company, Albert Cervantes (John Herrera) and his wife Gail (Karmin Murcelo) return to their Southwestern hometown of Dolores for the funeral of Gail’s aunt Lilly.
As Gail tries to figure out what to do with Lilly’s old restaurant, Albert finds himself sleepwalking at night, haunted by the memory of his little sister Ana (played by the luminescent Adriana Gaviria). Meanwhile Cuki (Wilma Bonet), the maid at their motel, tries to put on a brave face even though she has deep unrest in her soul, and a cheery graveyard caretaker named Huilo (Luis Saguar) talks to God while pulling weeds in the cemetery. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that fate — or, perhaps, young Ana — is bringing all these people together to confront the past and find redemption.
Like many other Latino writers, Gonzalez employs magic realism in September Shoes. In the graveyard, Huilo has a giant red chair, built for when God comes and needs a place to sit; on its leg, he carves the names of all the dead who are buried there. Meanwhile, Cuki nails shoes stolen from motel guests into a wall in her home while holding conversations with her absent husband and children. This imagery is both beautiful and intriguing — Cuki believes that the soles of a person’s shoes say much about his true soul — but the play takes some time to give them greater meaning.
In the first act, some of the writing is a little clunky, with too much exposition and jokes that often fall flat. Although Christopher Acebo’s marvelous, multi-faceted unit set perfectly illustrates the intersection of these people’s lives, director Amy Gonzalez has a hard time smoothing out some of the bumps in the script.
However, the tense ending of the first act finally shows us the tragedy that has been haunting Albert, and the second act proves to be much more arresting as the mystery of what binds Albert, Gail, Huilo, Cuki, and even Aunt Lilly is slowly revealed. When we learn of Huilo’s disturbing past, he becomes a much more profound character; and when Cuki finally discovers his identity, this sweet woman shows an unexpected side. Albert and Gail, who are a devoted couple at the beginning of the play, have to struggle to keep it together when guilt makes them turn inward. Through these peoples’ individual and shared torments, Gonzalez finds plenty to say about the challenge of forgiving and accepting forgiveness.
