REVIEWS: "Lydia" by Octavio Solis

Denver Center, World Premiere

"An astonishing, expertly crafted tragedy that seduces and repels... It tempts you with its pulsing rhythms and evocative language until it has you fully under its spell... [the] immigrant epic is very much the Latino cousin of 'Death of a Salesman,'... only this daring world premiere doesn't just serve up one Willy Loman. It serves up seven... brought to sad, vibrant life by a profoundly capable ensemble."

- Denver Post

"A recipe for magical realism with a psycho-physiological twist... miracles abound in the performances...  Christian Barillas's Alvaro pains us with his misplaced patriotic zeal offered as proof of an American pedigree."

- Variety

"The Flores family should get ready to take its place alongside the Tyrones and the Lomans as one of the defining clans of the American theater... in a story precisely Latino, [Solis] has written an American tale."

- Rocky Mountain News

"'Lydia' leaves you changed... a passionate, vigorous narrative... The cast of the Denver Center is captivating and chilling as the Flores family—making Solis’ poetry into a bird that flies... It’s a tragedy in its most poetic and vicious told with stunning skill... The Denver cast is perfectly competent taking the family from dysfunctional to explosive—with an electric, lingering commitment to Solis’ story and characters... it crosses the boundary from being just a play to becoming an intimate, incendiary experience."

- Fort Collins Now

"The story is miraculous, and the acting is heart wrenching...  like the very best theater, 'Lydia' challenges our complacency by reflecting to us our flawed humanity."

- Cairn: Colorado’s Cultural Guidepost

"Like Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and August Wilson before him, Octavio Solis has penned a great American family drama."

- Daily Camera

"As a world premiere, 'Lydia' has to be one the most intense, powerful, important plays produced in the past 100 years... If [it] isn’t nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, my system will experience shock waves greater than what any audience claims."

- Colorado Backstage

Yale Repertory Theater

"[A] fresh, penetrating, often blissful play... seductive and strong... five of these seven fine actors are from the original Denver cast... we can only hope that the cast will stick around for future productions."

- The New York Times

"The confluence of metaphor and the literal create a profound effect... 'Lydia' is certainly worth your attention."

- New Haven Register