Teen Struggles and Lessons for Parents
Review of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter at Seattle Repertory Theatre
Written by Liya Haile during an Arts Criticism workshop at Evergreen High School
Parents may have a favorite child whom they consider to be “perfect,” which might make the other child feel unwanted or excluded. In the play, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, we see Julia, the main character in the book, feel this way after her older sister Olga died. Her parents see Olga as a model kid that loves spending time with her family, and helps her mom with household chores. Julia on the other hand was the opposite, always making trouble, likes being out with friends and is lazy. Julia feels imperfect compared to Olga. Her parents encourage her to be more like Olga than herself. Even though she likes doing good things such as writing, reading, and poems, they were not supportive. Later on Julia finds unexpected things in Olga's room, doubts her sister's sanity, and keeps figuring out more. The story continues with Julia discovering her sister’s true colors.
The play succeeds at using the lights, transitions, and sound effects. When doing transitions, the light was on the character so your attention goes to where they want you to see, and not the thing they get in and out of the stage with. There was a circle on the ground that spun which I thought was cool because it helps with getting the thing out and the characters don't have to move around a lot because the thing spins making it look like they are moving around.