Is the American Dream a reality or fallacy? And if it still exists, who does it belong to? For Alma—the title character of Los Angeles playwright Benjamin Benne’s newest work—dreams for her first-generation daughter Angel’s future are built upon a universal hope of a better life with a slice of more immediate concerns of deportation and security. For Angel, the journey towards understanding why her mother is pushing for a perfect SAT score and admission to a good college are revealed through a bit of typical teenage angst, but ultimately through an emotional breakthrough for this mother daughter duo. While bonds are tested, and trust is broken, Alma’s vision for her daughter’s future never wavers. For the sake of the family, Angel simply must achieve the American Dream. After all, that’s what Alma’s visions have shown and what she believes society demands of this immigrant family.

While the bond between mother and daughter reaches heightened levels of fantastical realism in Benne’s poetic new play, it echoes a grounded familiarity for some of the women bringing Alma to life onstage and their own mothers. Director Juliette Carrillo and designers Carolyn Mazuca and Tanya Orellana recently joined with their mothers in conversation to reflect on the dynamic between Alma and Angel along with their own family dynamics growing up under the shadow of the amorphous American Dream.

Q. How do you define the American Dream, and do you see it as something that is still attainable?

Costume Designer Carolyn Mazuca and Mother Diane

Diane: Having an opportunity to and freedom to pursue that which the individual chooses, and not to have roadblocks because of race or because of religion, is my understanding of the American Dream. And to accomplish what one is willing to put the effort into trying to achieve.

Carolyn: I think some people don’t consider the American dream achievable, but I don’t know that they’re necessarily defining the American Dream the way my mom and I are. I do think that there is still a lot of people that are like, “oh it’s a house with a fence and a dog and the whole thing.” I think that people can work towards finding a dream that they like, and a dream that they can support, and in that way, I’m very optimistic.

Director Juliette Carrillo and Mother Sheila

Sheila: It makes me think back to my parents, who were first generation. My mom wanted me to have a good life and wanted me to have a career, because she didn’t have one…I probably protected Juliette against the American Dream more than I would have promoted it. I didn’t want it imposed upon her…the traditional way of being in the world. I wanted to keep the doors open rather than have a prescription for what was defined as success.

Juliette: Both my parents were artists. So, when I chose to go into the arts, there was never any concern or hesitation or fear around it. I also teach college, so I’m seeing a lot of first-gen kids come through our arts programs. The kids that end up in the arts are particularly strong because they know what the cost is. They have parents that have certain expectations, and some students know they are going against their parents’ ideas of the American Dream.

Scenic Designer Tanya Orellana and Mother Evelyn

Evelyn: I never thought of the American Dream. I’m an immigrant from El Salvador that came to this country when I was five. I’ve always just followed what I can. I took steps forward, and whatever was happening, that was the dream. I’m glad that Tanya has been following her dream—not the American Dream. She always wanted to read and go to the theatre, and I was there to provide a way to go. I was just happy to support that she had many interests.

Q. Alma’s vision for her daughter’s path towards an education and career is made clear in the play, and she applies great pressure when she senses resistance. Did you experience similar pressures while growing up?

Tanya: My mom’s support gave me the confidence to do whatever I wanted to do and to know that everything would be okay. Sometimes I look back at my life and realize that when I was 18 or 19, I just decided I would make this a career. It takes a lot of confidence or security to think you can do something like this. At my age now, knowing what it means to make this a career seems much scarier. It was because of my mom’s support that I felt I would be okay dreaming whatever I wanted to dream.

Sheila: Probably the opposite. I was young, and I wasn’t very aware, and Juliet was more mature than I was, and she was so self-directed and so passionate about everything she did that I didn’t even pause to think about how to direct her. I valued her drive and her instincts.

Diane: My grandmother would talk to Carolyn about opportunity and that she had to finish school and had to do well. My grandmother only made it to the fourth grade before she had to stop going to school and support the family. So, Carolyn heard those stories and knew what was out there. When I was finishing high school, my father would say I had to go to college. I felt that growing up, and I wanted my children to be able to go to college, so I was very in tune with their intellectual abilities. I tried to push them based on their capabilities.

Carolyn: When I was young, I didn’t know why my mom was pushing me to get good grades. Then it occurred to me that it’s not just within her and my generation—I realize my grandma and great grandmother didn’t finish all their schooling. I’m really happy that my mom pushed me in that way and that she had this sense of protection, the same way Alma does for Angel. Now that I’m older and have both perspectives, I think, okay, I get it.

Q. In Alma’s pursuit of a perfect life for daughter the play includes moments of raw emotion, but also memories of love and shared culture—including a constant serving of rice and beans—between this mother and her first-generation daughter. Did that sharing of culture play a role in your upbringing?

Juliette: There was conscious choice to keep us connected to Mexico. We lived in Mexico, when I was a child and there has there been consistent pilgrimages to my father’s mother’s home town.

Tanya: As first-generation person, there’s always a sense of longing for a place that you don’t know a lot about, except through your environment through your parents, so I was obsessed with it. I would ask my mom all these questions. I still feel I have a constant search for my identity as a Salvadorian American.

Diane: I have to say, the part about the rice and beans [in the play]—it was absolutely hilarious because when times were tough, we ate a lot of rice and beans. I remember, one time, my little one was asking what’s for dinner, and I say, “well, we’re going to have chicken and rice and beans.” And she was so sick of it. That is still our little funny thing we say, “I’m sick of rice and beans.”

Angel’s journey towards understanding Alma’s love and tireless pursuit of perfection on behalf of her daughter will take center stage at the Kirk Douglas Theatre from March 6 – April 3, 2022 in Center Theatre Group’s World premiere production, produced in cooperation with American Blues Theater.

I wrote this article for Center Theatre Group’s program for the play Alma at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.