That Was the River, This Is the Sea

By Claire Willett & Gilberto Martin del Campo

Staged Reading, 20111 Fertile Ground New Play Festival

When Leo takes his American girlfriend Rose to Mexico for his sister’s wedding, she is ecstatic to meet his family for the first time. But she finds herself in the middle of a family conflict when Leo’s cousin Javier skips the wedding. Leo and Javier have not spoken in years, though nobody can tell her why. Determined to mend the rift and get answers, Rose digs relentlessly into Leo’s family history. But what she finds may change their relationship – and their lives – forever. As Leo’s past and his future are drawn inexorably towards each other, a Greek chorus of Mexican aunts and uncles guide the audience on a journey through two countries and into the furthest reaches of the human heart.