The Circle, a tragicomic theater production by playwright Stacey Martino Rivera, delivers a deeply emotional, thought-provoking, and often disarmingly funny exploration of family grief, identity, and reconciliation. Directed with sensitivity and imaginative scope by D.W. Jacobs, and featuring original music by Germaine Franco, the production resonates long after the final bow.

Set over one chaotic weekend in Texas, The Circle brings together three generations of the Medinas and Mahoneys families. What unfolds is not merely a family drama but a mirror reflecting America’s fractured emotional and political landscape. Through moments of absurdity, tenderness, and piercing confrontation, the play suggests that truth itself is subjective — that every character holds their own version of reality, each equally valid. In this way, The Circle invites empathy rather than judgment, urging audiences to expand their capacity for understanding rather than retreat into certainty.

This is an introspective work that challenges easy answers. The emotional core of The Circle rests in its insistence that exclusion of any lived truth is itself invalid. Rivera’s writing insists that reconciliation, not punishment, must guide our approach to harm, conflict, and healing — a message that feels particularly urgent in today’s social climate.

The cast delivers uniformly powerful performances, but two stand out for their depth, control, and emotional honesty: Michael Brainard as Bud Ireton and René Rivera as José Medina. Their performances anchor the production, providing a masterclass in restraint and emotional precision. What makes their work especially compelling is the raw authenticity they bring — never overplayed, never forced — allowing moments of vulnerability to emerge naturally and profoundly.

René Rivera, a Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio, brings extraordinary gravitas to José Medina. His distinguished career spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, and film, including collaborations with Al Pacino, Kevin Kline, Anne Bogart, and Stephen Berkoff. Here, Rivera channels decades of craft into a performance that is both intimate and commanding. 

Michael Brainard’s Bud Ireton is equally compelling — layered, conflicted, and achingly human that demands his voice be heard.  Brainard, known for his work in All My Children, Santa Barbara, and numerous film and television projects, creates a character whose emotional evolution feels deeply lived-in and profoundly sincere.

The ensemble is solid across the board. Alma Martinez delivers a deeply moving performance as the dying matriarch Eva Medina, embodying both fragility and fierce emotional presence. Victoria Ratermanis as Molly Medina, Lisa Richards as Maeve Mahoney, and Jeanette Godoy as Mary Padrón each bring nuance and emotional complexity to their roles. Ava Rivera and Luna Rivera, portray Anna Medina at ages sixteen and twelve respectively, offering remarkable emotional maturity and authenticity. Lakin Valdez rounds out the cast with a strong and revealing performance as Ronnie Medina.

Martino Rivera explains that she wrote The Circle as an act of healing — for herself, her family, and ultimately, for a society fractured by polarization. The play’s exploration of racial justice, environmental justice, immigration, restorative justice, and belonging unfolds organically, never feeling didactic. 

Director D.W. Jacobs, drawing on decades of work with epic literary traditions — from Dickens to Dante — Jacobs infuses the play with a spiritual and emotional architecture rooted in memory, cyclical time, and transformation. 

The Circle is a rare theatrical experience — emotionally raw yet humorously alive. It does not offer easy conclusions. it opens a space for reflection, empathy, and perhaps, transformation.

Verdict:The Circle is powerful, courageous theater — urgent in its themes, exceptional in its performances, and essential viewing for audiences seeking art that challenges, heals, and inspires.

The production is dedicated to the late C. Raul Espinoza, posthumous producer of the play, whose legacy of community engagement and cultural advocacy is deeply felt throughout the evening.

The Circle will continue to play at the Greenway Court Theatre, 544 North Fairfax Avenue (at Melrose Avenue), Hollywood, CA  90036 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. The show will be playing for the remainder of the run on  Fridays, February 13 and 20 at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays, February 20 and 28 (a added Bonus performance) at 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m., February 15 and 21. Saturday, February 14th, Valentine’s Day, will be dark.

For further information and to buy tickets online, please visit https://greenwaycourttheatre.org  Tickets can also be purchased by E-mailing boxoffice@greenwayartsalliance.org or calling the Greenway Court Theatre at 323-655-7679, ext. 4.

The post THE CIRCLE: Raw, Urgent, and Deeply Human first appeared on .

Set over one absurd and volatile weekend in Texas, The Circle brings together three generations of the Medina and Mahoney families as unresolved tensions erupt against the backdrop of the 2016 election season. What unfolds is a darkly comic yet deeply human portrait of family, identity, political fracture, and the collective pain that reverberated across the country during one of the most divisive moments in modern American history.

Rivera’s script balances humor and heartbreak, using the intimacy of family dynamics to explore broader questions of accountability, belonging, and healing. Under Jacobs’ direction, the production leans into both the chaos and compassion at the heart of the story, allowing audiences to laugh, wince, and reflect in equal measure.

The cast includes Michael Brainard, Jeanette Godoy, Alma Martinez, Victoria Ratermanis, Lisa Richards, Ava Rivera, Luna Rivera, René Rivera, and Lakin Valdez—an ensemble that spans generations both onstage and off, reinforcing the play’s themes of legacy and inherited trauma.

Adding another layer to the production is original music by Germaine Franco, whose compositions underscore the emotional rhythm of the play and elevate its tragi-comic tone. Franco’s involvement signals the production’s ambition to blend theatrical storytelling with a cinematic musical sensibility.

The four-week run will take place Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m., January 30 through February 22, 2026, with Pay What You Can preview performances on January 28 and 29. Free parking is available at the theatre.

Opening weekend is designed as both a celebration and a space for community engagement. Friday night will feature a celebrity and VIP opening with a photo booth, while Saturday’s performance will be dedicated to the late producer C. Raul Espinoza. In his honor, Greenway Arts Alliance will make a financial donation to La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, which will also present an art exhibit in the theatre lobby that evening.

On Sunday, February 1, the production extends beyond the stage with a post-show panel discussion titled “Restorative Circles: Indigenous Roots to Today.” Moderated by Fidel Rodriguez of the LA vs. Hate Team, the panel brings together leading voices in restorative justice, healing, and social transformation, including authors, educators, and institutional leaders from UCLA and Loyola Marymount University. The discussion aligns closely with the play’s core themes of reconciliation, accountability, and collective repair.

The Circle is recommended for adults of all ages and older children who experience the play through guided conversation, though parents are advised that the production addresses intense themes.

With its fusion of political reckoning, family drama, humor, and restorative dialogue, The Circle positions itself as more than a theatrical event—it is an invitation to sit in discomfort, listen across divides, and consider what healing might look like after rupture.

For tickets and additional information, visit greenwaycourttheatre.org. TICKETS HERE

The post World Premiere ‘The Circle’, a TragiComic Reckoning with Family, Politics, and Healing January 30th first appeared on .

The upcoming 94th Annual Academy Awards Ceremony scheduled to air on ABCon March 27 could be a Starry, Starry Night for Latino Hollywood. This year saw an amazing array of Latino talent become strong contenders in several different competitive categories plus the emergence of one exceptionally bright star in the Latino Hollywood night sky. Here’s a look at the nominees, their categories, and their chances of taking home the coveted gold-plated statue.

Best Animated Feature

Two good to be true?  There are two excellent Disney Studio animated feature films up for Best Animated Feature with Latino talent: 

Encanto the Latino-themed story about the Columbian family, the Madrigals. Directed by Byron Howard  and Jared Bush who also shares the screenplay credit with Charise Castro Smith.  Yvette Merino is one of the producers and the music is by Germaine Franco.  

Raya and the Last Dragon is directed by Mexico City-born Carlos López Estrada along with Don Hall both nominated for Best Director.

There is frequently the possibility two Disney Studio nominees will cancel each other out. But these are two very different animated features with radically different approaches to animation.  Encanto uses a more traditional narrative animation style that is the hallmark of Disney animation. It’s nice to see the characters in Encanto are unmistakably and decidedly Latino. There are also several marvelous songs and musical segments in Encanto.

Raya and the Last Dragon, on the other hand, is strictly a fantasy narrative. The animation of the human characters in Raya and the Last Dragon is so life-like and realistic in their facial expressions you feel as though they could jump off the screen, sit next to you on the couch and enjoy the story with you. The so-called “last dragon”, voiced by that crazy, rich, funny Asian comic actress, Awkwafina, is an impish feathered serpent who appears to be half Big Bird and half Quetzalcoatl.

What Encanto and Raya and the Last Dragon have in common are two strong female lead characters and stories with underlying messages of hope, detterminationand the triumph of the human spirit.

Best Song

Is there anything this guy can’t do? The multi-talented Lin-Manuel Miranda gets a richly deserved Oscar nomination for the Encanto song “Dos Oruguitas”. It boggles the mind to ponder what this actor, producer and musical theater genius would have produced had he been at MGM during the Golden Age of Hollywood Musicals.

Best Supporting Actress

It’s like deja vu all over again. Ariana DeBose is well-positioned to accomplish an acting awards hat fete by taking the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in West Side Story. As the fiery Anita, DeBose overshadows the two leads in the film and overpowers the screen with her explosive, show-stopping performance of America.

Sound familiar? It should because it is the exact same thing Rita Moreno did sixty years ago when she won the Best Supporting Actress award for her dynamic dominating portrayal of Anita in the 1961 version of West side Story. DeBose has already won the Golden Globe and SAG awards and is the odds on favorite to win the Oscar. The super talented DeBose will hopefully follow in Moreno’s footsteps and become a member of the exclusive EGOT Club, winner of an Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar and Tony. It will be like deja vu all over again…again.

Best (Overlooked) Supporting Actor

Eugenio Derbez was superb as the eccentric but caring and nurturing Mexican music choir teacher, Bernardo Villalobos, in CODA. Derbez puts a nice Latin American spin on his Mr. Holland’s Opus-like character. But the award will likely go to his deaf actor co-star, Tony Kotsur, in a sentimental well-deserved win.

Best Actress

Behold a pale dark horse wearing way too much mascara. The Best Actress race is always a tough one to handicap. There are so many fine actresses working today and this year’s field of Oscar contenders is proof of that.

Penelope Cruz gets her fifth Academy Award nomination for her performance in Parallel Mothers. Cruz won Best Supporting Actress in 2018 for her work in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona. But the beautiful Spanish actress faces stiff competition from perennial Academy favorite, Nicole Kidman, for her stellar performance as Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos. Kidman won the Best Actress Oscar for The Hours in 2002 for her haunting portrayal of tragic writer Virginia Woolf. Kidman has proven her biopic acting chops.

But I believe the Academy is going to ignore the subtle and the sublime of Parallel Mothers and “Cruz” right past Penelope and go for the quirky and give the Oscar to Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Tammy Faye’s grotesque garish harlequin eye makeup could paralyze a clown dead in his tracks and intimidate some Academy members to vote for her.

Best Actor

Javier Bardem should be a shoo-in to win the Oscar for his performance as Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos. Bardem shows us the complicated layers that made up this often misunderstood and underappreciated man who was the backbone of I Love Lucy, the Desilu Production empire, and an early TV sitcom innovator. Arnaz was much more than a chronic womanizer, conga drum playing Cuban bandleader singing Babaloo and delivering his lines in his signature Cuban accent. He was an astute businessman, tough negotiator and eternally devoted to Lucille Ball. Bardem shows us all those colors brilliantly in Being the Ricardos.

Bardem’s competition comes from two popular Black Hollywood favorites: Will Smith in King Richard and Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth. The Academy loves anything from the British Isles and feels it must be good due to that cultured British accent. English actor, Benedict Cumberbatch, whose name alone conjures up fish ‘n chips, is nominated for his role in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog.

But like Glen Close in Fatal Attraction, Javier Bardem will not and should not be ignored. If he is ignored and doesn’t win the Oscar for Best Actor, the Academy will have a lot of ‘splaining to do!

Best (Overlooked)Director

Mexicans coming across the border and taking away those good paying jobs. Guillermo del Toro’s remake of Nightmare Alley has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best set Design and Best Production Design. Somehow the maestro, the orchestra conductor, the artist who puts all those musical notes, colors into a finished work of art resulting in a Best Picture nomination gets overlooked. Critics praise Guillermo del Toro, an acknowledged film auteur, for remaking Nightmare Alley with a modern film noir flare and a surprise ending.

The past few years have seen Mexican born directors dominate the Best Director category:  Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Roma), Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman, The Revenant and del Toro won in 2018 for The Shape of Water.  

There are no directors with Spanish surnames on this year’s list of nominees for Best Director. Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) is Variety’s best bet to win.  Bueno, asi es la vida.

Best Picture

Deja vu all over again, part three? West Side Story which is nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture could make motion picture history on March 27 and culminate what could be a glittering, success story for Latino Hollywood

Should West Side Story take home the big cinematic enchilada on Oscar night, it will be the first time in the Academy Awards 94-year history a virtual remake of a movie that had previously won Best Picture wins again.

Sixty years ago, Rita Moreno was the vanguard for Latino pride when she won Best Supporting Actress for her work in West Side Story. In a very moving, emotionally charged scene in the new version of West Side Story, Moreno is the voice of Latino hopes and dreams for Oscar night when she sings There’s A Place For Us.

The 94th Annual Academy Awards airs on ABC on March 27 (Sunday) at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT

The post Oscar Night Should Be a Big One for Latino Hollywood first appeared on .