Tell Hector I Miss Him

Tell Hector I Miss Him

Anyone in our new government who wants to stifle the arts or minority voices over the next four years will be scared shitless to see the blazing Tell Hector I Miss Him at Atlantic Theater Company. The vast majority of the cast and creative team are Latinx, and none of them are here to fuck around. Playwright Paola Lázaro's gritty dialogue wallops the audience for two hours as David Mendizábal deftly directs a cast of 12 powerhouse actors, literally all of whom give jaw-droppingly precise performances. 

Clint Ramos' masterful set transports us to Puerto Rico's Old San Juan, where broken concrete structures and dirty streets overpower the constant warm weather of this seaside paradise. The lights go down and you enter the rough and tumble pit of this crowded city, a world that you somehow never want to leave even though a subtle sadness pervades every moment of the lives of all who live there.

The entire cast delivers a master class in acting, making it hard to call out certain performances, but Alex Flores of The Maze Runner movies, Orange is the New Black's Selenis Leyva & Dascha Polanco, and Victor Almanzar (Between Riverside and Crazy) all shine extra brightly.

There's a reason the audience goes nuts at the curtain call for this play. This is empowerment. This is the arts. This is minorities demanding the respect they deserve as artists, citizens, and people. Puerto Rico is part of our country. This is America in 2017.

Runs through February 19 with tickets nearly gone already. Grab a pair NOW!

Photos: Ahron R. Foster