Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Albuquerque/Santa Fe


Regional Reviews

Simon as Sergio
University of New Mexico

Also see Dean's review of Gibraltar and Rob's reviews of To Kill a Mockingbird and Dancing at Lughnasa

Simon as Sergio, part of the University of New Mexico's first Linnell Festival of New Plays (previously Words Afire!), is a play by graduate student Barney Lopez. It is playing through April 20 in the Experimental Theatre, located underneath Popejoy at UNM. Directed by Jimmy Maize, this play is a story of two sets of highschool siblings who connect through Facebook.

Though the problem of false identities as portrayed online and in social media is a vast and complicated dilemma, I often find the exploration and research into this particular social conundrum somewhat misconceived and vapid. The problem is real—we see the consequences of social malpractice every day when we log onto Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and are affronted with accentuated melodramatic posts and vain attempts at attention whoring. We all have misgivings about whether or not our online lives and personas are worth having at all. The senseless and often inane connections we make through social media eventually force us to reevaluate the legitimacy of the entire platform and of the connections themselves. Every so often we are reminded that online lives and experiences are occasionally contrived, garnish no real social rewards, and are in fact not 'real' in many ways.

It is this exact social phenomenon that Mr. Lopez delves into with his original play. He throws us into the world of four disparate high school students, and the lives and relationships they develop with each other, on and off line. Without any pretense, Mr. Lopez has crafted a story that elates, frustrates, and challenges. This is a wonderfully artistic performance that has truly captured something real and immediate. It is a love story that grabs at our hearts and pushes us to re-examine our preconceived notions of this generation and the issues it must face in regard to the overwhelming presence of social media and technology. I want to give an enthusiastic "Well done" and a very sincere "Thank you" to Mr. Barney Lopez for giving us Simon as Sergio.

Set in modern day Albuquerque, we find Simon, a young and somewhat timid sophomore living life in the shadow of his older, handsome, high school senior and quarterback brother Sergio. From what we gather about their relationship, Sergio has been a dominating force in the family and gets practically whatever he wants while Simon has yet to find his voice buried underneath the weight of Sergio's "awesomeness." Simon is sweet, kind-hearted, shy, and a tad nerdy. At Sergio's insistence, Simon pretends to be Sergio for an online interview about his decision to run for Prom King. Sergio's air-head girlfriend has forced him to run alongside her for the title. Simon gets online and, as his brother asked, responds to the questions in a way that his brother would. As Simon continues the interview he begins to come out of his shell a little and timidly explore this new persona.

Erin Price, the interviewer, is a home-schooled senior who has a very private online profile, that is that she has no pictures of herself. Simon, as Sergio, continues to chat with and befriend Erin long after the interview takes place, all the while finding that behind the façade and safety of a computer screen he can flirt and emotionally bond with someone he's never met. Erin, as well, begins to flirt and emotionally connect with Simon/Sergio. The online relationship starts to grow and Erin begins to have a greater presence on Sergio's profile as she starts to 'like' and comment on his photos and statuses. Sergio's girlfriend becomes jealous and their relationship is compromised. They eventually break up and Sergio takes back his profile from Simon. Sergio finds the chat that Simon has been having with Erin and ridicules his brother. He starts chatting with Erin and asks her to the prom, now that he is broken up with his girlfriend and needs a "rebound." Simon becomes infuriated and depressed, unable to continue to build an emotional connection with the girl he has come to love. We come to find out that Erin has cerebral palsy. Unable to dance, she gets her younger sister Emma to go to the prom with the boy she has come to love, and to pretend to be her. Insanity and chaos ensue, a little Wilde-esque at times, and we find that this online relationship is as much built on lies and fake self-portrayal as it is on the real emotional connection for Erin and Simon. Though the play is a comedy, the pathos and the inherent frustrations and pains of the characters give us a deeper experience.

The actors and actresses in this performance are exceptional. Harrison Sim as Sergio is conceited and vapid. Seeing him last in Spring Awakening as Hanschen, I wonder if he's being typecast as the handsome yet arrogant character. I'd like to see what else he can do, as his presence on stage is brilliant. Estevan Munoz plays Simon and is perfect. He plays a character that is youthful, awkward, and unsure of himself, and yet is able to carry that performance and make it wonderful and vulnerable. He is the true hero of this story and he performs triumphantly. Cheyanne Boggus, who both plays Emma and Sergio's ex-girlfriend, gives us a chance to see her as an actress with impressive agility. She is both beautiful and gifted as an actress. The real gem of this specific production, however, is Maymie Mitchell who plays Erin. She is without a doubt one of the most charming women I've ever seen on stage. She is unassuming, radiant and talented. She shines throughout the performance, a scene stealer through and through because her acting is flawless.

Kudos to director Jimmy Maize for staging a beautiful production. The stage design is remarkable: minimal and versatile. It, in itself, adds to the grandeur of this production as much as the actors themselves. It's a gift to an audience member and to the world of theater when all the technical and artistic pieces of theater serve each other.

All I can say to the city of Albuquerque is that you should go see this show at all costs. It is a delightful love story that steps outside the bounds of cliche and overdone, and becomes something original and truly artistic. Unfortunately, the run is short, as it will only perform through April 20th. I so hope to see more work by this team of artists: director, playwright, actors, et al. You can buy tickets at the box office located on the first floor of the Center for the Arts Building at UNM, or visit UNM Events.

--Caleb Scales