Casey Wimpee’s The Brutes explores 19th-century America’s most renowned theatrical dynasty, the Booths, less than six months before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Based on a remarkable true event, the play centers on November 25, 1864, when brothers Junius Jr., Edwin, and John Wilkes Booth shared a stage for the first and only time at New York’s Winter Garden Theatre. Rehearsing Shakespeare's Julius Caesar over Thanksgiving week, the family attempts to put their fierce political differences aside for a benefit production, a historic performance that funded the William Shakespeare statue still standing in Central Park today.

Join actor and writer Alex Garza for a free preview of his comic, but touching tribute to his family's home town.

The place is Hebbronville, Texas. It is a small, quiet South Texas town, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Little does anyone know, however, what lies in store for the town's tiny population. Jamie De Los Santos returns to his parents' hometown to make a documentary about the place he visited growing up, but didn't always understand. He attempts to figure out what makes the town and the culture and the people so special. As he begins to interview his family and the quirky inhabitants of Hebbronville, the town faces a potential disaster from the sky. The impending doom causes Jaime to gain a better appreciation of where he came from, and if everyone can survive, it just might bring the town together. Join Alex Garza in this wacky one-person show, as he plays Jamie and a crazy, but sweet, cast of characters. A fun show for everyone!

Running time: 60 minutes

About the artist: 

Alex Garza has been writing and performing his own solo shows for 20 years. His first one-person play, "Pulse," debuted at Ausitn's Blue Theatre in 2005. Since then, he has created and performed several shows including "Misfit," "The Baby Harp Seal Diaries," and "Coconut." He first performed "Abuelita's Christmas Carol," a play written about his maternal grandmother, at Austin's Play! Theatre in 2006. Since then, he has shared the show with audiences all over Central and South Texas, and he performed the play at the Santa Monica Playhouse in California. He also enjoys songwriting and he has published a couple of his own novels. He is happy to share his work with audiences from all walks of life.  

Mexico City, 1940s — By day, Silvia Ibarra is a well-bred doctor’s daughter preparing for life as a respectable wife. By night, she becomes Emiliana, a cabaretera who worships Emiliano Zapata and dreams of returning her grandfather’s land to the campesinos. When her double life is exposed, Silvia’s future is thrown into turmoil. Inspired by the prostitute melodramas of Mexico’s Golden Age of film, Emiliana reimagines the genre through a lens of social justice for Indigenous, femme, and queer communities.

THIS IS FOR THE STREAMING PERFORMANCES ONLY

Mexico City, 1940s — By day, Silvia Ibarra is a well-bred doctor’s daughter preparing for life as a respectable wife. By night, she becomes Emiliana, a cabaretera who worships Emiliano Zapata and dreams of returning her grandfather’s land to the campesinos. When her double life is exposed, Silvia’s future is thrown into turmoil. Inspired by the prostitute melodramas of Mexico’s Golden Age of film, Emiliana reimagines the genre through a lens of social justice for Indigenous, femme, and queer communities.