Yosimar Reyes explores lives of the undocumented in Teatro Vision show

The corner of Story and Capitol in San Jose can claim Yosimar Reyes as one of its most prestigious residents.

As Santa Clara County’s first undocumented poet laureate, claiming that honor in 2024-2025, Reyes built the foundations of his artistry in the enclave as a young undocumented child, learning valuable lessons about the power of community despite living amongst fellow targets in the early 1990s. The state’s anti-immigrant sentiment peaked in 1994 with Proposition 187, an initiative aimed at denying essential services such as healthcare and education to the state’s undocumented immigrants.

Reyes recalls those days as a 6-year-old with vivid clarity. While the fears and anxiety among immigrants in the early ‘90s were palpable, there is also a fondness for the memories of how his community, led by the heart and soul of his beloved grandmother Mardonia Galeana, came together to fight the power at the only apartment complex they could find that didn’t ask for a Social Security number on the application.

These recollections, informed by today’s toxic climate of ICE agents decimating communities and instilling fear among citizens and non-citizens alike, has inspired Reyes’ pointed response through the power of theater. His play, “No Llegamos Aquí Solos,” which translates to “we did not arrive here alone,” is getting its world premiere at Teatro Vision. He created the work from the past two years in East San Jose and the Mayfair community collecting stories. The show runs through Feb. 22 at the Mexican Heritage Plaza.

“We knew who sold sodas, candies or tamales, and even though we were all strangers, we became familiar with each other because we were trying to survive in this country,” said Reyes, who has been outspoken about his own DACA status over the years. “We knew through word of mouth who would hire you, or who could give you rides, and you really learned how undocumented people created networks of familiarity out of being strangers.”

While poetry has made Reyes a popular figure in the region, he’s also engaged in writing solo theater pieces, but this play hits differently. The timely work dramatizes his grandmother, who passed in 2024 at 89, but named Mama Doña in his play. She is celebrating her 85th birthday, but her grandson Ignacio chooses this day to organize protests in the face of an upcoming ICE raid. The conflicts of his organizational methods clash with his apartment complex community, with lessons learned about how neighbors love and look out for each other.

Teatro Vision’s artistic director Rodrigo García, who is directing the play, is one of many who can relate to Reyes’ work on a more personal level, having been undocumented for more than a decade before gaining his citizenship.

“All of what’s happening today is not new, and we’ve seen this in different iterations,” García said. “What’s different now is that I have privilege and legal status, and that sets me apart from those who don’t. I can communicate in English, which is another privilege I have, and now I’m in a position to do something about what’s happening.”

García understands that most audiences will not come into the theater blind, likely having seen images of ICE horrors and the resistance they have felt from all corners. But as in any play that carries heavy themes, finding the levity in a story takes precedence.

“We don’t want to engage in the cliche of the poor, powerless individual whose destiny is defined by the system,” García said. “Those are realities, but it’s one of multiple realities. There are all these moments of joy, and we get to live and laugh at those things. They serve as reminders of how human we are as we share the power of laughter in moments of darkness such as these.”

For Reyes, who is shaped by the community he came to from Mexico, the play serves as a love letter to every person who took care of him and allowed him to rise above.

Reyes is grateful.

“I think my goal has always been to be the poet or the artist that talks to other undocumented people, that’s the audience I’m trying to reach, and I think that’s very important and significant to me,” Reyes said.  “Over the last few years, we have seen plays with undocumented characters, but I think for me, the difference is that I am an undocumented person writing about the community that raised me. I think that adds a different texture and context and a different sensitivity to the ways in which I am really, really uplifting the people that inspired me.”

David John Chávez is a former chair of the American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association and a two-time juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (‘22-‘23); @davidjchavez.bsky.social.

‘NO LLEGAMOS AQUÍ SOLOS’

By Yosimar Reyes, presented by Teatro Visión

Through: Feb. 22

Where: Mexican Heritage Plaza Theater, 1700 Alum Rock Ave., San Jose

Tickets: $10-$40; teatrovision.org