Review: Dynamic ‘The Little King of Norwalk’ at Latino Theater Company
- Anita W. Harris
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
In this moment of forcefully erasing people who some would rather not see, it seems that the City of Norwalk was ahead of its time. In August 2024, its city council approved a ban on homeless shelters and businesses serving low-income residents, including liquor stores, discount stores and laundromats, citing its “police power” to do so.
Israel López Reyes’s timely play “The Little King of Norwalk” satirically portrays the councilmembers behind the ban and two siblings caught up in its wake — one an activist fighting the ordinance and the other who figures out how he can benefit from it. Continuing at the Latino Theater Company through Nov. 2, the play is dynamically directed by Geoffrey Rivas with an excellent cast and creative staging, making it a fun, must-see show.
Loosely borrowing from Russian writer Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 play “The Inspector General,” Reyes sets his play squarely in Norwalk, a map of its streets and barrios projected onto large translucent screens on stage, which the actors frequently turn (projections by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh and scenic design by Maureen Weiss), creating dynamism enhanced by beat-driven music between scenes (sound by John Zalewski).
The talented six-member cast adds further zest to the production, each bringing to life their character in over-the-top ways that heighten the satire. Wendy Perez (Esperanza América) — dressed as an urban vaquera, complete with cowgirl hat (costumes by Claire Fraser Walsh) — is upset about two things: paying rent for the Norwalk apartment she shares with her young child and brother Juan (Xavi Moreno) and the suffering of those who can’t pay rent at all.
A thorn in the council’s side, Wendy is vocal at city hall meetings about the ban as an advocate for the unhoused. Both she and Juan live under the halo of their deceased mother — Juan literally experiencing visitations from her after he’s arrested for DUI and loses her car, which he and Wendy had lived in for a year when their father had to go back to Mexico and the family became homeless.
In Juan’s light-filled jailhouse vision (lighting design by John A. Garofalo), the mother makes him promise to help the poor of Norwalk out of love. It’s an overtly sentimental message echoed by Wendy’s selfless words and actions as she takes phone calls from unhoused single mothers and veterans, promising to help.
Meanwhile, we see the councilmembers peering out of city hall’s windows at night to see how many anti-ban protesters have amassed while acerbically denigrating the homeless and impoverished. But because their characters are so hilariously exaggerated — and each actor well cast — we can laugh at their mean and selfish diatribes.
Mayor Alvarado (Randy Vasquez), with the clean-cut precision of a former military officer and a slight Hitler mustache, spits out the worst invectives against both the poor and the State of California for curbing his city’s right to make independent decisions. His savvy but sexy partner, City Manager Nancy Juarez (Ruth Livier) — professionally dressed yet with low-cut blouses and large hoop earrings — doesn’t hold back herself. And dyslexic School Superintendent Alex Ayala (J.Ed Araiza) may seem mild mannered but that doesn’t stop him from joining in either.
Rounding out the city hall contingent is Police Chief Ricky Ortiz, performed with great comic effect by Richard Azurdia (who also plays The Law in general in dark glasses and a trench coat). His dancing at the Acapulco in Downey while the other councilmembers sing karaoke is just one scene that elicits uncontrollable giggling.
There is a dark side to The Law as well, such as when Juan is arrested for driving drunk and then beaten with a baton for no reason. But when the council mistakes clueless Juan for a State inspector and offers him bribes to report on how its ban is justified — playing on their mutual Mexican heritage — Juan seizes his ticket to a job and rent money.
Reyes’s writing is tight, full of jokes and local geographic and cultural references, and very distinct characters, each of whom the actors fully inhabit with energetic vocals and fluid physical movement. Though well-paced, structurally the play moves from scene to scene rather evenly, such that heavier moments — including a moving and heated confrontation between the siblings and when Juan poignantly speaks truth to power — are given the same weight as the others.
But that doesn’t prevent “The Little King of Norwalk” from being a highly entertaining and though-provoking satire that plugs into theatre as a space for reflection and transformation. Though in real life Norwalk’s homeless shelter ban was rescinded just last month following a State lawsuit, this hilarious play is still a timely comment on the haves and have-nots, those in power and those with the overriding power of heart.
“The Little King of Norwalk” continues through Nov. 2 at the Latino Theater Company in The Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, with shows Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. For tickets and information, visit LatinoTheaterCo.org. Run time is 95 minutes with no intermission.
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