Theater review: A People's Cuban Christmas Tale

                     

You know about that grasping old coot Scrooge, right? Maybe you even saw the Old Globe’s version of the story in Balboa Park.

Have I got a switch for you. James P. Darvas, artistic director of Chula Vista’s OnStage Playhouse, has mounted a new, Cuban version of the familiar tale, written by that crazy guy Herbert Siguënza, perhaps best known as a founding member of the comedy group Culture Clash.

So what’s different? This is the political version that reimagines the story from the perspective of the Cuban people who became political pawns in the late 1950s and ’60s.

The old story is here, with modifications: the rich Ezequiel Scrooge (Richard P Trujillo) is a sugar baron who treats his workers (including Roberto Cruz, played by Javier Guerrero) badly and threatens the folks who rent living spaces from him with eviction if they can’t pay the rent.

He’s a tightwad who won’t even donate to good causes like the one represented by collectors (Nick Young and Vanessa Lopez), who come around at Christmas trying to raise money to feed the poor. 

Scrooge isn’t even nice to his relatives – his niece Alicia (Sandra Ruiz, who also plays Cuban poet José Martí), for example.

Yep, Scrooge gets what he deserves: the ghost of his deceased former partner Marley (Jose Balistrieri) shows up, promising visitations on three nights to come. 

Things get progressively more scary for Scrooge, until on the third night he sees his own tombstone, a big, ugly thing that says “Scrooge. Capitalista” as an insult. And he decides to change his stingy ways.

But these Cubans aren’t just poor factory workers who want to celebrate Christmas. Some of them are revolutionaries who, in this version of the story, support Fidel Castro, and there is talk of taking over the government by force if necessary.

It’s a whole different take on the Dickens story. I loved it. A three-piece band is set up close to the door, and they contribute great Latino-inspired beats like “Guantanamera.” 

The cast is uniformly terrific, the story is both classic and revolutionary, and it ends well. What more could you ask?

“A People’s Cuban Christmas Tale” plays through December 19, 2021 at OnStage Playhouse.

For times and tickets: onstage playhouse.org/2021-2022-season