[title]
Off Broadway review by Raven Snook
Rating: ★★★★ (four stars)
Writer-performers Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson can do many things at once, all deftly: They act, sing, rap and play instruments including guitar, harmonica, accordion, trumpet, drums and piano. Their extraordinarily edutaining two-person musical Mexodus is likewise adept at multitasking, balancing the past and the present to illuminate a little-known piece of history: how thousands of enslaved Black people in the 19th century fled to Mexico to escape bondage. Although Mexodus’s tale is fictional, it dramatizes enduring truths about solidarity as a path to freedom.
After killing a slaveholder in self-defense in 1851 Texas, Henry (Robinson) heads south, but almost drowns while crossing the Rio Grande. He is rescued by Carlos, a haunted Mexican army medic who lets him hide out on the farm where he works. Initially, the two men struggle to connect because of cultural and linguistic barriers. As they begin to recognize their intertwined struggles, a friendship grows; soon, they're making beautiful music together.
How they make that music is thrilling to watch, thanks to the "looping system architecture" conceived by sound designer Mikhail Fiksel. Using pedals located all over Riw Rakkulchon's two-tiered shed set, Quijada and Robinson build each song by recording different elements then looping and layering them live, so the twosome aurally evokes a larger ensemble. They even incorporate the sounds of everyday objects such as scissors, boxes and a call bell into the banger-filled score, a blend of hip-hop, blues and rancheras with clever lyrics performed in English and untranslated Spanish.
Director David Mendizábal has been helping Quijada and Robinson develop this sui generis piece for the past five years, culminating in a production at Audible Theater last fall that has transferred to the Daryl Roth Theatre for a limited run. Mendizábal’s inventive and kinetic staging—at one point, Henry and Carlos wield their acoustic guitars like shovels—ensures that the show never seems like a concert. He also helps keep the narrative clear, a challenge given the transhistorical fluidity that allows Quijada and Robinson to play themselves as well as Carlos and Henry, which is a key part of what makes the show work.
On my second viewing of Mexodus, I saw the capable Trent Lawson sub in for Robinson, and it was still a hell of a fun time. That said, there's something special about watching the show’s two creators perform it themselves. Quijada, a natural clown, and the more stoic Robinson lean into their own real-life friendship, which was born from this collaboration, even as they trace the evolution of Henry and Carlos' relationship. Despite the show’s serious subject matter, that gives Mexodus the liberating lightness of a musical buddy comedy.
Mexodus. Daryl Roth Theatre (Off Broadway). By Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson. Directed by David Mendizábal. With Quijada and Robinson. Running time: 1hr 30mins. No intermission.
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