esperaré
by Antonia Cruz-Kent
“all of my best words were born from the palms of your hands.”
Antonia Cruz-Kent’s esperaré is a tragicomedy, a tribute to the playwright’s family, and an oral-history inspired rumination on grief. This piece is about loving, mourning, and embracing your ancestors as a Jewish Boricua, with family coming from two different, complex worlds. When young Toñita/Toni parts with her ill-fated "big love", her guardian angel, Marian, appears to her in a place between waking and dreaming. She re-introduces Toñita/Toni to two beloved relatives who died when she was a child: her Great Uncle Bud (a lovable troublemaker) and her Abuelo (a fierce and friendly warrior). She walks in her ancestors' shoes, witnesses their mistakes and triumphs, and in the end, learns what "big love" really means.
