Amidst dream and trippy weed-induced sequences, Clara (Sandra Delgado) is coping with a lot of significant life changes. She lost her job, her often moody pre-teen daughter, Stella (Charlotte Arias) is growing up, her Papi (Ramón Camín) needs her now that her mother has passed, and her ex-husband David (Brian King) is still orbiting her life. Throw in the fact that Clara has also applied for U.S. citizenship, and you could say her life feels suddenly out of orbit. “Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars” by Delgado is an exploration of what it means to be an American.
Set during the Obama administration, circa 2015, we are reminded of how stringent the immigration policies were—in his two terms, over three million people were deported. During this time, marijuana was also illegal in Chicago, although you would’ve hardly known it with how often people smoked. But that is the reality for Clara, whose citizenship application gets flagged because of long-forgotten, minor weed charges. That is when she gets a lesson in how uneven the immigration laws are and how immigrants are expected to be “perfect,” even if everyone else can make mistakes.
As Clara, Delgado gives us a multifaceted woman just trying to do her best for herself and her family. Her interpretive dance sequences resonate in moments when there are no words to convey how she feels. When her loved ones silently gather around her, all swaying in a soothing motion together, it’s clear that we are made up of all the people who love us—past and present. That love is made manifest by Camín’s Papi, who embodies the heart of a loving father and grandfather, despite the pain of his recently deceased wife.
The issue with “Hundreds of Stars” is that it gets lost in exposition. There are several moments throughout the play that feel so long and out of place because the characters are just explaining a concept to one another. The scene with Clara and her immigration lawyer, for instance, feels like an immigration-law lecture thrust into the play. When these moments occur, the tension this play imparts suddenly vanishes, as if all the air is sucked out of the room. So the actors have the difficult task of clawing back that tension in the scenes that follow, but these expositional moments occur so frequently that they can’t maintain a sense of urgency throughout the show.
Despite this, “Hundreds of Stars” has much wisdom to impart. It’s clear from audience reactions on opening night that some nuances of immigration are not widely known to the general public. Now, more than ever, it is vital for us to understand the tumultuous nature of immigration in this country. Not just the uneven enforcement, but the real human consequences of dividing families. Especially ten years after this show takes place, in a time when our city, our neighborhoods and our neighbors are being terrorized by an unlawful administration that couldn’t care less.
TimeLine Theatre’s “Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars” runs through November 9 at Lookingglass Theatre, Water Tower Water Works, 163 East Pearson. Tickets are $40-$95, available at timelinetheatre.com or by calling the TimeLine box office at (773)281-8463 x6.
