Take your pick from the relatable topics in the play “Guadalupe in the Guest Room.”
Losing someone. Not knowing how to grieve. Not knowing your roommate very well. Binging a TV show for comfort. Struggling to talk with an in-law.
As those who are involved in the Fine Arts Center Theatre Company’s upcoming production of “Guadalupe in the Guest Room” said, there’s much to resonate with.
When Elise Santora read the script, she thought about her childhood. How she and her parents spoke Spanish at home and “did the American thing out the door.”
The first-generation American and actor, known for roles on “Orange is the New Black” and “Iron Fist,” is familiar with navigating language barriers.
As a Latina, she’s familiar with how rare roles like Guadalupe can be. She knew she had to do the play.
“I fell in love with the story,” she said.
The story follows Guadalupe and Steve. She’s a mother who, after her daughter passes away, moves in with her daughter’s husband, Steve. She speaks Spanish. He speaks English. They’re grieving the same person differently. Then, they start to bond over watching telenovelas together. Then, barriers start to break.
The script felt “oddly familiar” to James Bruenger-Arreguin, whose family immigrated from Mexico to Colorado when he was 4. When he read “Guadalupe,” he knew he had to direct it.
The story resonated with his story of loss. When he was 16, Bruenger-Arreguin’s father died from a battle with addiction. He also thought of all “the lives we lost in the past year.”
“This show tells us it’s not just about your own grief, but how you can connect with other people through it,” he said. “And what you can learn from someone else’s grief.”
But it’s not all sad or serious. Bruenger-Arreguin says the play “isn’t heavy, but it’s real.”
The play, which opens Thursday and runs through Oct. 24, is described online as “a funny and heartfelt celebration of new beginnings, breaking barriers and a realization that understanding doesn’t always require speaking the same language.”
The fact that any play will be taking the Fine Arts Center’s stage is reason for celebration, following months without traditional plays or musicals due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ahead of “Guadalupe, which opens the company’s 2021-2022 season, the Fine Arts Center announced it would require visitors to wear face masks and show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test.
Still, Bruenger-Arreguin said he hopes the show feels like a return to normalcy for live entertainment.
“When I read the script, it just reminded me of all the reasons I love theater,” Bruenger-Arreguin said. “And what I missed about it.”
He missed the mix of drama and comedy. He missed being in the same room with an audience, cast and crew as the lights go down and the show starts. He missed how a live production can start conversations that continue long after the show. He says “Guadalupe in the Guest Room” is the kind of play that starts those kinds of conversations. Like how to process grief, even the kind of grief coming from a pandemic.
As Santora has prepared for her role in the show, she thought of loved ones she lost from COVID-19. She thought about how it will still take time to process it all.
“(The play) reminds you that no one processes grief in the same way,” she said. “And it shows us that grief is the same in any language.”
This content was originally published here.