←Recommendations of Machihembra

Sam Heyman has crafted a beautiful story in "Machihembra" filled with sympathetic characters drawing from real-life experiences. The dialogue is rich and poetic, but it's the love-filled message of acceptance and hope that resonates and lingers. The clever use of a shadow-person for ALEX'S introspective reflection is an effective device. Meaningful and lovely - this one-act should be read by children questioning their identity and even more so by their parents. Excellent work.

I was drawn in just by the description of the first two characters and a notion of the narrative. And then, then, more revelations come forward. Heyman's subject made me research further, and with that knowledge in hand, it just deepened my experience with this wonderful one act. I often found myself catching my breath at the beautiful passages that occur. Sometimes just the stage directions! But it's these characters... so, so very human, that truly stick with me after completing the reading. This play is going to stay in my mind and on my heart for a while. Magnificent.

Heyman's poignant one act can appear in part as magical realism, with a reflection showing and speaking directly of the unbound future, but more expressively proves the magic already in the realistic that can so often be cooped up in western heteronormatives.

There is no one path in coming of age, and the explosive exploration of that potential and the underlying fears and hopes contained within stare back both at Alex and the audience. When it's your own face staring back at you from the beyond, the you that you could be, it may be worth the plunge.

“The future is not fixed.” Heyman’s poignant play embodies the truisms that you should just love your children - who they are - and who they will become. Trust them to figure it out because they will. And when they do, they will want you in their corner. A play that will speak to so many teens who are struggling with identity. This play will make them feel seen.

I read the play a while ago, however it has remained constant on my mind since. Heyman has encompassed a true world that exists inside Alex’s mind and it is one that I see in my day to day as a teacher with students searching for their own place in the world. I fully suggest you read this play.

Machihembra is the story of an imperfect family, and even more imperfect friends, in an imperfect world that is determined to put people in sturdy and isolated boxes, when reality - and the human experience - is so much more complex. Alex Cruz de Ramirez is a young hero for the ages, on the precipice of a million different lives to lead. There's expectedly no quick resolution to the prejudices that underscore everyone's lives, but Heyman's protagonist (and empathetic storytelling) has enough heart to take them on. What a beautiful story.