Beyond the Laughs
Review of Laughs in Spanish at Seattle Repertory Theatre
Written by Kayla Cai during an Arts Criticism workshop at Evergreen High School
Laughs in Spanish promises just that. It’s filled with energy, secrets and an awkward love story. You’ll gasp between the laughs and won’t want to look away, except for maybe the romance scenes. Immediately, Laughs in Spanish takes the audience to a vibrant day in Miami. It centers around a gallery owner, Mariana, who has to figure out how to fix things a day before her art show. The play does a good job showing what Miami is like with the cool sounds and visuals, making the play overall entertaining to watch but the romance in the story feels a bit awkward and out of place. The day before Mariana's art show, her paintings disappear while her mom Estella, a movie star, appears and tries to help out. But things only get more complicated and involve themes of family and relationships. Estella's assistant Jenny, who is also Mariana’s love interest, is introduced as well. Her intern Carolina, who is also an artist, uses her art to save the show while Carolina's boyfriend Juan, the cop, tries to figure out who stole the paintings.
One way the play was successful was being entertaining, keeping the audience engaged. Right from the beginning, it grabbed the attention of the audience with the powerful acting in Mariana’s reaction to her paintings being stolen. It was packed with yelling and panic, making the audience invested in the problem. The plot had surprising twists like when there was a scene where Carolina and Juan both made an unexpected confession and got the audience eager to see what will happen next. There were also random moments of dancing that were fun to watch and got the audience reacting. However, some people might’ve thought that there was a little too much going on, with all the different things happening and it may have been confusing or boring for them. Or that even though there were surprises, some may have been able to predict some of the things that happened because similar things have happened in other stories or movies. For example, it wasn’t shocking how Mariana and Estella's relationship got fixed or the identity of the thief. But even with these potential counter arguments, the strong acting and high energy throughout the play still made it fun to watch.
The romance in the play, however, sometimes felt a bit awkward and didn’t fit into everything else that was happening. Especially between Mariana and Jenny because it happened out of nowhere. Mariana never got the chance to show and develop her love identity before Jenny appeared, so when they suddenly kissed, it was just like thrown in there and didn't really add much to the main story. Their relationship felt like a lot of kissing and not enough talking because the kisses were so long which made it awkward to watch. As a result, the relationship seemed unreal and was just not as good as Carolina and Juan’s relationship which felt much more convincing because they got so much time together. Although, some may have thought it was a sweet part of Mariana’s life since there was so much going on and it showed a different side of her. But even so, it was still a bit cringey to watch.
Despite the uncomfortable romance, the play's use of spectacle was spectacular. The set used vibrant colors and palm trees so you could picture the play taking place in Miami. The lighting was also important. It was warm, like the sun and made you feel like you were in Florida. Plus the way the lights changed throughout the play helped to know where to look. When one part of the stage got brighter, that's usually where the important action was happening. It made it easy to follow the story without getting lost. The sound helped as well. The music was upbeat, making you think of dancing, which fits with Miami culture. There were also sound effects of the city and cars which supported the feeling of being there. Because of all these visuals and sounds, you won’t feel confused, instead, it will help to understand the story and characters better. Although, the play never actually showed any paintings which was a bit disappointing since it was about an art show. The walls were bare the entire time, but even without the art itself, the way they used everything else to show Miami was still really cool and made the play come alive.
In conclusion, Laughs in Spanish is an entertaining play that has cool visuals and funny surprises that will keep you watching. However, there may be some awkward moments. So if you enjoy a show with lots of energy and some funny moments and don’t mind a not super convincing love story, then this play may be worth checking out.
Lead photo: Gabriell Salgado and Diana Garle in Laughs in Spanish (2025). Photo by Bronwen Houck.
The TeenTix Press Corps promotes critical thinking, communication, and information literacy through criticism and journalism practice for teens. For more information about the Press Corps program see HERE.
This review was written as part of an Arts Criticism workshop at Evergreen High School in Jim Mackerras' Language Arts classes, taught by Press Corps teaching artist Ayo Tushinde. This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission.
