Fable blends U.S. and Mexico

SAN DIEGO -- Should the border wall come down? That’s the question underlying “Nuevo California,” a new fable of the future presented by the San Diego Repertory Theater. The question, however, is obscured in a rickety plot about the shooting of a pope.

It’s 2028, five years after a devastating Southern California earthquake. San Diego and Tijuana have reemerged powerfully, thanks to “massive federal aid and matching grants from Taco Bell” and, because of mutually beneficial U.S. and Mexican politics, have been merged into a new city-state, Nuevo California.

This merger, however, has strong opposition on both sides of the old border, so the recently elected pope, a Mexican American progressive (hey, this is a fable), comes to Las Playas beach to bless the new region. As he speaks, he is gunned down, spurring much turmoil and a frantic hunt, in both countries, for the shooter.

Even with the heavy themes, the script, by Bernardo Solano and Allan Havis, is rich with humor and the Latino quality of magical realism. As the pope lies in a coma, his spirit commingles with those of dead people from various subplots. For instance, the pope’s devoted friend is a Kumeyaay Indian who is confronted by his deceased grandmother because the fence split their tribe and its land. There’s a Mexican woman who hates the U.S. because her son was enamored of all things American and drowned attempting to swim around the fence, which extends into the ocean. And a photographer has turned away from his Jewish heritage, largely because another land dispute -- in the Middle East -- led to the death of his parents.

Those stories, along with other scenes and characters that dramatize varying feelings about the border fence, give “Nuevo California” a lot of baggage, but the capable cast, under Sam Woodhouse’s animated direction, generally carries it well.

At the center is the pope, and John Campion is rock-solid. His character, as written, is highly fantastical -- after his election, he shocked the cardinals by becoming a pop recording star and urging that churches hand out condoms -- but Campion’s genial portrayal makes such improbabilities seem possible. And he’s equally credible as an old woman, a young child and a Jewish father.

The play, distilled from hundreds of interviews Solano conducted with a spectrum of people in the region, is performed in a melange of languages, mostly English, with considerable Spanish that’s understandable to anyone who has passed a basic course. The mix is generally well blended and comprehensible, although one character causes confusion when she several times exclaims, “I see! Veo!” with no pause between the exclamations. Even hearers familiar with both languages momentarily wonder who or what is “Veo.”

Trevor Norton has designed a generally dim lighting pattern and a utilitarian set composed of a footing of sand and boardwalk-type platforms backed by a rusted metal wall. George Ye’s sound scheme includes a variety of music styles compiled by Hans Fjellestad, and Melanie Watnick’s apt costumes are highlighted by that worn by choreographer Dora Arreola as a white seabird-angel of death.

*

‘Nuevo California’

Where: Lyceum Theatre,

79 Horton Plaza, San Diego

When: 7 p.m. Tuesdays; 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays;

2 and 7 p.m. Sundays;

2 and 8 p.m. March 1

Ends: March 2

Price: $23 to $40

Contact: (619) 544-1000

Running time: 2 hours,

10 minutes