Laughs in Spanish
For all its light comic playfulness, “Laughs in Spanish” itself code-switches quite well and often to some deep emotions and realizations –– that’s one key to its success.
Four Latino actors and one self-acknowledged “white girl” make up the cast, which is directed with spirit by Darrel Alejandro Holnes, an Afro-Panamanian American director and filmmaker, assisted by co-director Emily Jackson.
Carolina (Caro), is an MFA painting student interning at the gallery; she’s figuring out how to promote her work while questioning the meaning of creating art in the first place. Alexandra Lemus portrays her as vivacious and dynamic; if Mari is a smoldering firecracker, Caro is a sparkler.
ITACHA TIMES
WOLF AT THE DOOR
“Throughout the play, Lemus is affecting with her ability to embody a character that is ethereal and otherworldly while also beset by a very physical, earthly struggle.” -NJ.com
“A strange young woman called Yolot (Alexandra Lemus) appears at the hacienda door. She is completely naked, hugely pregnant, and has a strange connection to the pack of wolves howling nearby. What Yolot is and why she has come are supernatural mysteries. The answers, based on Latino folklore, are not what I expected, and more fascinating because of their unfamiliarity.” - The Link News
“The actors turn in fine performances” - The Two River Times
“Under the firm direction of Daniel Jáquez, the actors lead us gently but inexorably deeper into the story with balances of power shifting and flowing organically.” -Out in New Jersey
Paloma
“For the Kitchen's beautifully appointed production (scenic design by Gary Smoot), director Margarett Perry skillfully, almost musically, guides the winning cast of three through the time-shifting structure. As Paloma and Ibrahim Lemus and Kais explore the characters' child-like innocence, she, bubbly and enthusiastic and he both soulful and antsy.”
“Their struggle is authentic and pertinent, and the actors’ charming chemistry brings it alive. -Ithaca Journal
“ the dialogue unfolding the intricacies of faith and friendship is spot on. And the traces of immaturity in the characters are beautifully countered when the actors play Paloma’s mother (Alexandra Lemus)and Ibrahim’s father — as full-bodied, complex adults.” - Ithaca Journal
An Act of God
Meyers and Lemus are excellent accompaniments to Freeman, the former providing an earnest, human curiosity and the latter a light-hearted sidekick for God.- Provincetown magazine
Are We Human
In walks an unlikely Messiah figure, Ethan (Matthew Bretschneider), and his empowering co-worker Violet (nicely played by Alexandra Lemus). - Front Row Center