At the beginning of Western civilization, in ancient Greece, playwrights would produce serious theater works that addressed issues of such importance to the well-being of the state that the productions were subsidized so that the entire populace would be able to attend. Those works were called tragedies. John Leguizamo’s world premiere The Other Americans at Arena Stage is a tragedy in the same tradition. It is mammoth in the breadth of the emotions and the depth and importance of the issues it explores. It is humane and painfully and inescapably revelatory in the way that a genuine tragedy is. And, Lord, is it exhilarating to watch. Luna Lauren Velez (Patti) and John Leguizamo (Nelson) in ‘The Other Americans.’ Photo by T. Charles Erickson Photography. In a recent NPR interview, John Leguizamo noted: “The beauty of theater and plays is that, for generations [they’ve] given white people, especially the average Joe and Jane, a sense that their lives have value and meaning.” The gap between the value that is granted to white people and the value that is granted to everybody else — and how that gap hinders him and his family — is a constant theme of Nelson Castro (John Leguizamo), a Colombian–Puerto Rican laundromat owner and the patriarch at the center of the play. Even if its source is not recognized, the confusion, disorder, and damage caused by that gap that Nelson Castro constantly invokes is clearly felt by audience members these days, in the closeness of the current U.S. presidential election, in the daily demonstrations of climate change, in the fraying of whatever social cohesion underlay the term “American,” and, as illustrated in this play, in our most intimate, personal relationships. This state of affairs is nothing if not its own tragedy. The Other Americans is not a political play, though. This portrait of one man’s attempt to navigate the insidiousness of the destruction that is wrought on his life by the unequal landscape of the American dream is an experience that is breathtakingly personal. The Castro family is preparing for the homecoming of only son, Nicky (Trey Santiago-Hudson). Nicky has been in a mental wellness facility, recovering from a nervous breakdown that occurred as a result of being attacked and beaten with a baseball bat. Matriarch Patti (Luna Lauren Velez) is so nervous as she prepares for Nicky’s return that she burns the sofrito several times. Daughter Toni (Rebecca Jimenez) is engaged to the nerdy but reliable Eddie (Bradley James Tejeda), who is employed by Toni’s aunt Norma. Both Toni and Eddie try to maintain a sense of relative calm throughout the proceedings. Nelson (Leguizamo) and his sister Norma (Rosa Arredondo) were set up in the laundromat business by their deceased father. Norma has done much better managing her money and her business. Nelson has had to borrow from her several times and is trying to convince her to loan him more. Patti’s sister Veronica (Sarah Nina Hayon) is in a state of advanced pregnancy but is present in order to welcome her nephew home and help her sister. Nelson’s brand of patriarchy is familiar with its chaotic combination of lovableness, neediness, and controlling manipulation. Toni has wanted to help her father, Nelson, with the business. But Nelson wants to groom Nicky for that role. In an effort to make his son’s recovery as quick and easy as possible, Nelson has built a lap pool in the backyard for Nicky. Mother Patti wants Nicky to go back to school. But Nicky doesn’t feel he’s ready. And besides, he wants to learn to be a choreographer and to dance. TOP: Bradley James Tejeda (Eddie), Luna Lauren Velez (Patti), Rosa Arredondo (Norma), Rebecca Jimenez (Toni), and John Leguizamo (Nelson); ABOVE LEFT: Trey Santiago-Hudson (Nicky) and Luna Lauren Velez (Patti); ABOVE RIGHT: Trey Santiago-Hudson (Nicky) and John Leguizamo (Nelson), in ‘The Other Americans.’ Photos by T. Charles Erickson Photography. The play does not try to pull the typical melodramatic strings in order to wring emotions and sympathy from the audience. In fact, at first, there is a feeling of distance. For a while, I felt as though I was observing the lives of these people from a God’s-eye narrative point of view. Over time, though, I relaxed into the unspoken invitation of being allowed into these intimate and embarrassing conversations and feeling almost adopted, you could say, by the Castro family, experiencing the rhythms and the subtle intonations of those conversations among this clan of folk who, outside of the family enclave, have to code-switch across language changes as often as they breathe air. Here, there was no code-switching: just family talking with all of its beloved familial faults. So, when the painful moments of the story came, they came hard. There were moments of stunned silence in the audience so deep, you not only heard it but you practically felt it on your skin. There was one moment of outrage so great that when one audience member spontaneously uttered the word “Damn!” he seemed to speak for the whole of the opening-night audience. There is a generosity and order about the staging that gives us a sense of multiple things happening at once both emotionally and physically in multiple spaces in the house, at an unrushed pace and without getting anything lost or confused. This is not the first time Ruben Santiago-Hudson has brought people onstage who were able to honor and share culturally specific family languages that are usually suppressed in favor of what is recognizably marketable to a general audience. His production of August Wilson’s Jitney, which we saw here in DC a few years ago, was an excellent example of how rewarding and revealing it can be when the people onstage value — and know — the uniqueness in the culture they are representing. That’s the attention Ruben Santiago-Hudson brought to The Other Americans that has resulted in this profound production. Arnulfo Maldonado’s set is the spacious and well-ordered home of an upwardly aspiring middle-class family. And the tiled swimming pool! From an audience’s point of view, the pool is spectacular each time the floor opens to reveal it. In the dramaturgical context, this set piece is elegantly modest and calming: a perfect space for Nicky to settle his consciousness back to his body. The family that this ensemble of actors has created functions like the instruments in a well-rehearsed, enthusiastic, but relaxed chamber orchestra. John Leguizamo has always done the work and continues to do so. He is not afraid to show this patriarch’s shortcomings. All the way through to final dimming of the stage lights, as he walks off the stage, his performance doesn’t ask for sympathy from the audience. This Nelson Castro lives the life he was given and plays the cards he was dealt. He is a domineering presence in a small body that is a startling contrast to that of his son, Nicky (Trey Santiago-Hudson), whose baby-faced, tall, husky body houses a quicksilver fragility and uncertainty that at any moment blossoms into helplessness, paranoia, and terror that can only be calmed by submerging himself in the swimming pool his father has built. His is an edge-of-your-seat performance. Velez plays Patti with a deep, sincere warmth that embraces everyone who enters the Castro home. She is the emotional center of this family that keeps everyone else in relation to each other. On the other hand, she exudes a determination to “fix” things that leaves her deaf to her son’s repeatedly expressed needs. Hayon’s clean and focused performance as Veronica brings a clear-sighted optimism to supporting her sister’s branch of the family as they strive to retain their upward mobility. Arredondo gives another focused performance as Norma, Nelson’s sharp-edged sister, who is just as much a hustler as he is and who makes it clear that while family remains tantamount, she has reached the end of her rope as far as business dealings with him. Jimenez is a welcome presence as Nicky’s sister and his toughest and closest ally, Toni. She keeps her own counsel, and to the extent that she can, she helps keep the peace in the family. Tejeda is steadfast in his portrayal of Toni’s much-put-upon fiancé, Eddie. That Eddie manages not to disappear in the midst of the high-pitched familial conversation and, at the same time, does not contribute any additional drama himself is a testimony to his suitability to be a part of this group and to Toni’s shrewd perceptiveness in choosing a husband. Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif says that The Other Americans “ushers in a new era.” I agree. The play rigorously questions the role of human beings in the universe. In doing so, playwright Leguizamo embraces and manifests the lives of Latine folks as universal: not secondary, subservient, or merely decorative. Running Time: Two hours and 20 minutes, with a 15-intermission. The Other Americans plays through November 24, 2024, in the Fichandler Theater at Arena Stage, 1101 6th Street SW, Washington, DC. Tickets ($59–$99) may be obtained online, by phone at 202-488-3300, or in person at the Sales Office (Tuesday-Sunday, 12-8 p.m.). Arena Stage offers savings programs including “pay your age” tickets for those aged 35 and under, student discounts, and “Southwest Nights” for those living and working in the District’s Southwest neighborhood. To learn more, visit arenastage.org/savings-programs. The program for The Other Americans is online here. COVID Safety: Arena Stage recommends but does not require that patrons wear facial masks in theaters except in designated mask-required performances (Saturday, November 23, at 1 p.m.). For up-to-date information, visit arenastage.org/safety. The Other Americans By John Leguizamo Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson Produced in Association with The Public Theater