With Built-In Ills, ‘De Donde?’ Shows Its Age

The problem with newspaper plays such as Mary Gallagher’s “De Donde?” is that, like a newspaper story, they capture a moment in time--and then yellow with time.

Gallagher’s docudrama about Central American refugees living in the United States illegally after fleeing for their lives from military dictatorships seemed vital enough when it first appeared in 1990 to get us past its hackneyed dramaturgy. Plays were seldom as ripped from the headlines as this one.

“De Donde?” is being revived under Barbara Covington’s direction at Rancho Santiago College, but six years on, the headlines have changed, and so has the play. Just as Larry Kramer’s breakthrough, agitprop AIDS drama, “The Normal Heart,” has gone from being immediate to dated, “De Donde?” with its very poor playwriting to begin with, is already past its time.

Even more unfortunately for this show, the illegal-immigrant issue has shifted away from Central America to Mexico--and to a new set of problems. Though Gallagher’s illegal immigrants are true political refugees trying to escape persecution (only to find new persecution, care of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service), the latest wave of Mexican illegal immigrants are here for more complex economic reasons.

(In her introduction to the published script, Gallagher concedes that many of the technical legal problems addressed in the play have been resolved in the courts.)

As audiences expecting a fresh take on the illegal-immigrant issue will realize, this distinction is not a trivial one. They will also realize that this production isn’t nearly strong enough to overcome the built-in problems.

The action of the play is actually pre-1990, in the Reagan era of active U.S. support of ultra-right regimes in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Gallagher awkwardly tries to encompass a lot of characters--none developed beyond types--ranging from nasty border guards to quietly eloquent refugees and well-meaning but squabbling lawyers defending refugee clients.

She borrows from TV network drama, introducing several melodramatic plots and cutting between them for two acts. She lifts from Brecht for her agitprop speeches against injustice. She uses the old trick of showing different stories at once, with simultaneously spoken dialogue and the stage equivalent of filmic crosscutting between the stories.

For all the tricks, though, “De Donde?” never gets us very close to these people, straining for effect when it should be simply telling a story.

Because Gallagher feels compelled to tell so many stories at once, we never really know, for instance, what connects refugee defense paralegal Pete (Oanh Nguyen) with Extrana (Ana B. Vargas-Jorge), a woman too terrified to reveal her real name and homeland.

Another odd couple is feisty teen Felicia (the well-cast Lucia Sanchez), who wants to help the refugees, and Teto (Hugo Mireles), her ruthless border-guard boyfriend. In this play, they feel thrown together for no reason other than to make the sparks fly.

Handled differently, this could have been interesting. Yet with the dialogue so relentlessly literal-minded, even a skilled, veteran cast would struggle to bring this alive. Covington’s college cast of 23 (many in multiple roles) should get a solid A for effort, but a general flatness of delivery (thanks to a flatness in the writing) makes for a long sit.

The technical crew makes the sit at least interesting to look at and listen to. D. Silvio Volonte’s industrial-style platform stage and pinpoint lights perfectly serve the play, while Justus Matthews’ fine sound design and Wilma Mickler-Sears’ numerous costumes create a world more felt than anything in the playwriting.

* “De Donde?,” Rancho Santiago College, 1530 N. 17th St., Santa Ana. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30 p.m. Ends Sunday. $6-$8. (714) 564-5661. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.

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Hugo Mireles: Teto

Lucia Sanchez: Felicia

Oanh Nguyen: Pete

Ana B. Vargas-Jorge: Extrana

Sandy Mitchell: Randy

Catherine Wise: Lynne

Alicia Berhow: Judge

Jesus Cervantes: Alirio

Oscar Madrigal: Juan/Oscar/Refugee

Adrian Lopez: Willy

Marcial Jorge: Narciso

A Rancho Santiago College Theatre Arts Department production of Mary Gallagher’s play. Directed by Barbara Covington. Set and lights: D. Silvio Volonte. Sound: Justus Matthews. Costumes: Wilma Mickler-Sears. Makeup: Barbara Matthews.