**This article contains spoilers**
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts put on “Plumas Negras” from April 11-19 for its Illinois Theatre 2024-25 season, bringing a powerfully emotional story to the stage.
The play tackles loss, family and generational trauma in the Mexican migrant community of East Salinas, California.
The play tells the story of three generations of a family of Mexican migrant women, Concha, Perla and Aurora, as they navigate the difficulties of family relationships and the oppressive systems that dominate their lives.
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The show’s stage manager and graduate student studying stage management, Anna Compton, said Melíza Gutierrez proposed the show to Krannert’s play selection committee.
Gutierrez is a graduate student studying acting and plays Perla in the production. She previously performed the play as an undergraduate at the University of California, Irvine.
“In my undergrad, I did a lot of Latin theater,” Gutierrez said. “My resume is almost all Latin theater, and it was the first time I did it here, and it was such a relief to come back to it.”
Director and professor in FAA Marie Ramirez Downing spoke about how the play, written by Juliette Carrillo, is based on the real lives and experiences of Mexican migrant workers in California. It explores the complex experiences and tragedies the community faces and continues to deal with.
“(Juliette Carrillo) went into the fields of Salinas, California, and talked to Mexican immigrants and workers in the field about their lives,” Downing said. “And with the culmination of all those interviews, she created a story about three women and their story from generation to generation.”
The play is split into three parts. The first part details Concha’s life as a field worker in 1963.
The second part, set in 2003, explores the life of Concha’s daughter, Perla, as she follows in her mother’s footsteps as a fieldworker while navigating her own struggles of motherhood and a volatile work environment.
The third part, set in 2013, shows how Perla’s daughter, Aurora, struggles to balance her desires for her future with her mother’s wishes.
The play opens with all dialogue in Spanish during Concha’s story, then moves into a mix of Spanish and English as it follows Perla’s life. When the focus shifts to Aurora, the dialogue transitions almost entirely to English.
This slow change in language reflects the generational change the family of women experience as they slowly root themselves in the United States and its culture.
It is specifically reflected in Aurora’s journey as a first-generation college student in her family and community.
“There are Mexican students trying to go to college, and they’re also trying to be reverent to their communities and their parents,” Downing said. “They’re trying to be a help to them, but also trying to do something different.”
Despite its groundedness in the reality of the struggle that migrants face, the show also has elements of magical realism involving mystical dream sequences and communion with family members who have passed away.
Concha’s spirit and presence remain throughout the show, staying with Perla and Aurora through their toughest moments.
The production also features two actors playing crows who can speak with the main characters. They act as both narrators and guides, often showing the characters and audience what must happen for the family to heal and move forward.
“I think the crows are super interesting,” said Laney Rodriguez, a graduate student studying acting who plays Concha. “They’re kind of like these supernatural observers, these ancestral figures. And to have them in the play and see how they relate to the characters and also how they kind of narrate the story has been super cool.”
The play demands a deep emotional toll from Rodriguez, Gutierrez and Avery Luciano, a junior in FAA who plays Aurora. All three rise to meet that challenge with immense effort and talent, especially in the scenes where Concha reaches out to her living family.
“I think it’s really special and hard to do that every night,” Rodriguez said. “To share that story is hard but really fulfilling.”
At the end of the day, “Plumas Negras” asks the audience to wake up to the injustices Mexican migrant field workers and communities face while simultaneously demonstrating how love and family hold incredible strength in and beyond the physical world.
Gutierrez wanted to clearly convey the pain that is experienced while also offering hope for healing.
“There are real people that pay with their lives for our convenience,” Gutierrez said. “And not only that, but I think that forgiveness is possible. At any time in your life, you can grant someone peace and forgiveness and it’s for you, this catharsis, this forgiveness it’s always for you.”
