A family secret tied to a tragedy is finally revealed when the brain-damaged Ceci finds her voice through newly hired undocumented maid Lydia who has a special connection with Ceci and other members of the family. The defining moment for the Flores family, setting up all the tensions and conflicts, was the auto accident which occurred a couple of days before Ceci’s quinceañera (fifteenth birthday celebration) putting an end to all her hopes and dreams and upsetting the equalibrium of the whole family. Mother Rosa turns to religion, father Claudio retreats into TV and his headphones and older son Rene takes to drink and gay-bashing. Younger son Misha is a good boy who writes poetry and helps care for the nearly helpless Ceci. Things get turned upside down when Lydia is hired so Rosa can return to work, and the boy Ceci loved, cousin Alvaro, returns from a tour of duty in Vietnam to take a job with the Border Patrol. Tensions mount leading up to Ceci’s shattering revelation which results in the fragile routines and relationships being forever changed and Ceci finding release for her pent-up desires. UCSB Performing Arts Theater, Feb 25th and 26th.
