Control Group produces first time playwright’s thoughtful show about art, aging and authenticity

Stepping into the People’s Building for the world premiere of Cheyanne, you can almost smell the paint fumes mixed with a hint of rebellion. The world premiere of Cipriano Ortega’s debut play, produced by Control Group Productions, directed by Phil Luna, and developed since 2014, is a tableau of an artist boxed in by a cramped apartment and society’s tighter expectations.

The set, designed by Ortega, is minimalist cool: a canvas center stage and bedrooms as bookends. A door up centerstage with white panels on either side serve as a canvas to abstract projection design by Deep Space Drive In. These elements aren’t just décor — they’re participants in the drama, echoing the confinement and illumination of the characters’ lives.

Cheyanne begins with a dramatic montage under bold red lighting, as Cheyanne, portrayed by Iliana Lucero Barron, attempts to care for her dementia-ridden father Frank (Angelo [Angel] Mendez). Cheyanne is simultaneously working to make life comfortable for her dad and defending her artistic vision for her painting from her romantic partner and artistic collaborator, Rodrigo. Played by Ortega, his artistic ambitions are perilously tethered to market demands.

Spirited portrayals in turbulent waters

Barron’s portrayal of Cheyanne is both spirited and soulful, giving life to her character’s artistic struggles and familial duties with a palpable intensity. Ortega, on the other hand, infuses Rodrigo with a pragmatic charm that occasionally veils deeper insecurities, offering a nuanced counterbalance to Barron’s passionate idealism.

Together, they navigate the turbulent waters of love, art and compromise, making every shared scene a compelling glimpse into the complexities of maintaining a relationship strained by external pressures and internal desires. The dialogue is sharp, laden with the sort of biting exchanges that slice through the air with precision.

Early on, a tense interaction over a painting alteration by Rodrigo sets the stage for the thematic conflicts to come — between personal vision and public expectation. Enter Lisa, an art dealer who’s all vaping swagger and sharp business acumen, portrayed brilliantly by Magally Luna.

Her over-the-top vivacity is unapologetically flashy and fiercely savvy. Magally’s performance highlights the commodification of social justice, as she negotiates the sale of art stripped of its soul.

Phil plays the cramped space like a chess master, directing each movement to be a strategic revelation of character and conflict. In a play where the physical environment is confined, Luna expands the emotional landscape, allowing the audience to feel every inch of the proverbial walls closing in on Cheyanne.

A haunting familiarity

The thematic exploration of dementia is deeply affecting. Scenes where Frank reminisces about the past or mistakenly asks to go home resonate with a haunting familiarity for anyone who has witnessed the slow disintegration of a loved one’s memory. While the exploration of dementia through Frank’s confusion and nostalgia hits hard and true, the art debate sometimes feels like a sketch needing a few more strokes.

Angelo Mendez and Iliana Lucero Barron | Photo: Elle Hong

The play dances around the deeper motivations behind Cheyanne’s artistic choices, leaving us craving just a bit more of her creative soul in the narrative. For a play centered on the life of an artist, surprisingly, the audience never sees Cheyanne’s actual painting. Nor do we come to fully understands the artistic principle she’s fighting so passionately to uphold.

This omission is somewhat disorienting, as it detaches us from the visceral connection that might have been forged between the audience and Cheyanne’s creations. As the canvas remains blank for us, so too does the depth of Cheyanne’s artistic convictions. This gap in the narrative makes it challenging to fully appreciate the stakes of the conflicts presented.

Nevertheless, Cheyanne is a formidable debut from Ortega. It boldly tackles themes of gender, classism, and race through the lens of personal struggle and societal critique. Cheyanne is a heartfelt scream into the void that is the modern art world, questioning what’s truly valuable: the art you make or the approval it gains.