Bakersfield, where scandals often make headlines and where a middle-class Mexican American family is getting ready for Christmas dinner. But when that dinner arrives, what conflicts will rise to the surface, especially in a family riddled with secrets? 

Feliz An American Play written by Michael J. Mejia is the first full-length work returning to the KCACTF Region 8’s festival stage in 10 years. In this intervening decade, we have seen the rise of social media as a quick form of entertainment. For most of us, that can mean functioning with a limited attention span, where we can scroll from one story to the next in an instant. Director Miguel Torres Cruz was drawn to the play for the active energy it carries. As he describes it, “this play is a train that takes off that never stops.” Feliz is a work that immediately grabs an audience’s attention but rivets us, demanding us to closely tune in. 

While social media can make our information and lives appear real on the surface, Mejia has built a world that digs way deeper. He leaves no room for confidentiality. He knows that in secrecy we carry our true feelings, actions, and thoughts — aspects of ourselves that can be viewed as strange and unholy. He understands that secrets can pile up quicker than one might realize, that the burden of carrying secrets can break a person, and maybe even those around them. In Feliz: An American Play, the playwright tells a story of a family’s relationships built on power dynamics, strong will, and preservation. 

Welcome to the inner world of Consuela, Augusto, Amanda, Joe, Vicki, Eric, and Sam — take a seat, and maybe close the door behind you.

Warning: this play includes mentions of sexual harrassment and sexual assault, pedophilia, and domestic violence.

— Miriam Cervantes & Sophie David, Dramaturgs