Satya Chávez brings to life a character asking pointed questions about her place in America

Storytelling is an art, and Satya Chávez delivers a captivating one-woman performance for a solid hour and 45 minutes in the intimate Singleton Theatre at the Denver Center.  Her talent is impressively multidimensional: actor, musician, comedian, poet, connector (to name a few), and she shares her skills freely with the audience from the moment she enters the theatre, strumming her ukulele as she walks to the stage.

Chávez plays the role of Bee Quijada, one of several children born in the U.S. of El Salvadoran parents who emigrated in search of the American Dream. In Where Did We Sit on the Bus, Bee begins the story with her 9-year-old self, the only Latino in her history class learning about Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on the bus. As the teacher explains the backdrop of segregation between whites and blacks, Bee notices not only that she is the only Latino in her class, but that there is no role for a Latino in the historical events. Thus her question: Where did we sit on the bus?

To answer it, Bee embarks on the tale of how she got to be her 9-year-old self, including the history of her ancestors with caricatures of her parents Eduardo and Raina, who appear and re-appear throughout the show. She continues into and through her teenage years, into college and beyond, including her rebellion against her parents’ wishes that she focus on her studies and not on theatre to have a better chance to achieve the Dream.

Jamie Kraus Photography

Questions of color

Chávez seamlessly creates backdrops of sound live before us, layering her instruments (guitars, ukelele, harmonica, flute, beat box and vocals) before she progresses through the chapters of Bee’s life. On top of the score, we watch through Bee’s eyes her experiences growing up outside of Chicago as a minority trying to find herself and fit in. She finds herself enamored with the sound and dance of Michael Jackson – and asks the question: If I am a brown person who admires a Black person who wants to be a white person, who am I really?

The present-day issues of immigration and impacts to DACA are inescapable in the story.  And while there are moments in the tale that belong to those feeling displaced in a predominantly white environment, the writing seamlessly offers connection that we all feel as humans facing obstacles as we try to grow up and get along.

The stage mirrors the multi-level talent of its performer with staggered platforms that offer different size spaces and elevations for the various moments in time. Even the lighting is multi-dimensional, switching between bulbs, neon line, and traditional theatrical overheads. Chávez helps us move by switching locations, changing instruments and starting a new beat-box layered background as she turns the page on Bee’s story.

Starting at the beginning and continuing at various points in the show, Chávez (or Bee as they at times feel interchangeably), incorporates the audience into the live action, which fosters even more of an atmosphere of inclusion.

This production is well worth the price of admission if for no other reason than to experience Satya Chávez’s talent all at once. Absolutely captivating.