←Recommendations of Legends of Texas

Reyna deftly examines the great American gun debate through the microscopic lens of a family divided. Legends of Texas is such a smart and honest portrayal of how gun legislation tears at the seams of one individual family and their struggle to communicate amidst pain and suffering. A timely piece that should be produced as the debate continues to affect American lives and families.

An intense examination of the nation's wounded psyche reflected in the experience of a specific family. Reyna's piece takes a clear-eyed view of the gun debate, racial politics, and numerous other issues but is never preachy; rather, the topics are examined through the grounded experience of these fully realized characters. The writer treats these lofty themes with a wonderful lightness of technique and wit but does not offer easy solutions. When violence erupts, it is given full weight. These moments are shocking and viscerally unnerving yet fully prepared for. A stunning play.

This play took part in "The PG Evolution a development process". We selected it because it is special and we believe 100% in the playwright and their voice. We are proud to be a part of its early journey and cannot recommend it enough. If you have any questions about our experience with this work, please feel free to reach out to us. We love this play and we know you will too.

Nisla Reyna distills today’s societal divisions within the dramatic confines of one family in their family-owned gun store. Set in a small town near the border of Texas and Mexico, the Legends of Texas demonstrates how dangerous and perhaps insurmountable this rift can be, when the changed mindset of a dead father/husband seems too impossible to accept by one of his surviving daughters.

This play is for anyone who's family is divided deeply along political lines--so most everyone. The characters are fiercely drawn and their clashes are intense and necessary sketches of family tension and political tension. Reyna isn't afraid to show you a world that's deeply flawed and dissatisfying, but not without it's glimmers of hope.

Through the examination of one family and their relationship to traditions, Nilsa Reyna gives us a deep look into gun culture, what it is to live in its shadow, and how we navigate a new world while holding up to old roots. Conversations are often uncomfortable, but rewarding and and what we are left with is a look into the future and traditions that is poignant and at times, very funny.

Encapsulated in this battle over an inheritance are the major questions facing the Tejano border community today. If there were a play out there to undermine the idea of Latinx homogeneity in identity, beliefs, and ideals, this is the blueprint work. Equal parts serious, funny, melancholic, and heartbreaking. Nilsa Reyna invites us into the world of the Cruz family as a battle for the future is waged in the store turned into the legacy of a patriarch. There are no easy answers, but the most important of questions are asked here. Of tradition, of worldview, of our shared future.

There are many legends that people associate with Texas and most of them do involve cowboys and guns. It is in fact this conservative and frankly unhealthy "Texas Ranger" culture that has led to divide in the Tejano community in South Texas between those who remember the ideals of Cesar Chavez and those who support Trumpism. This play takes a personal look at one family caught in this divide as they decide what to do with their late father's gun shop. The result is both shocking and disturbing in this triumphant truth telling of life in South Texas.

The Legends of Texas is a powerful cautionary tale and a deep exploration in how the importance of family is vital to one's survival. Nancy and Reagan are at odds and we all know that there's no one who can get underneath your skin like a sister. The play teaches that sometimes a gun is relief, sometimes it's a tool and sometimes, it's a cry for help. The characters are truthful representations of conversations that many are afraid to have. Nilsa Reyna wonderfully delivers a story where everyone must face the reality of our divided cultures and political views.