Terry Morgan
People may not remember now what an impact the tv show The X-Files had in its time. It lasted eleven seasons (although two were broadcast many years after its original run from 1993-2002), spawned two films and brought a welcome dose of dark strangeness to network television. It was appointment viewing for a lot of people, including myself. At the end of 1999, I contracted SARS, got very sick and was put on a ventilator in the hospital. I could still write on a pad of paper, and one Friday my then fiancée (now wife) was surprised to see my note saying to be sure to tape X-Files that evening. I was close to dying (spoiler: I didn’t), but I had my priorities. The lead character in Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas’play, Recent Alien Abductions, thinks about The X-Files perhaps more than he should, but he has his reasons. The west coast premiere production by Sacred Fools Theater Company at The Broadwater Theater Complex is beautifully acted and skillfully directed, but the play itself unfortunately has structural issues that keep it from being quite as powerful as it might be.
Álvaro (Peter Pasco) stands before a silvery metallic backdrop. He wants to talk about an episode of The X-Files set in Puerto Rico, the country he grew up in. The plot of that episode concerns the lead character of the show, Mulder, traveling to visit a large observatory in Puerto Rico, and encountering a mysterious young man (also named Álvaro) there. Later on in this play, Patria (Lynn Adrianna Freedman) visits Álvaro’s family in PR. She meets his ailing mother, Olga (Erica Ortega), his elder brother, Néstor (Alexis DeLa Rosa), Néstor’s wife, Ana (Thais Menendez) and their friendly neighbor, Beba (Crystal Diaz). She needs to get Néstor to sign some paperwork, but he is combative and resistant.
Pasco does a nice job portraying the subtleties of Álvaro’s character, revealing things about himself beneath the surface of a conspiracy theory about an X-Files episode. Freedman excels as Patria, a woman thrown into the deep end of another family’s issues but who’s able to stand up for herself surprisingly well. Diaz is charming and sympathetic as the gossipy Beba, and Menendez shows a steely resilience as Ana. Ortega impresses as both the unwell Olga (switching between helplessness and lashing out) and another character, whose affect is completely different. DeLa Rosa is terrific as the intimidating Néstor, whose jealousy and anger toward his brother blazes out at all around him.
Director Jaime Robledo, known previously for his fantastic visual and staging sense, gets great dramatic work from his cast, demonstrating his skill with more delicate material as well. He still brings creative flair to the show, however, from the stylized scene changes to a cool set reveal. Cortiñas is clearly a talented writer with something unique to say, and all of his material with the family works brilliantly. The characters are detailed and compelling, and the story goes somewhere I wasn’t expecting. However, structurally the bracketing first and third acts of the show, which focus more on Álvaro, don’t seem to connect as effectively to the rest of the play. I can see what the playwright is attempting to do, which is interesting, but for me those scenes unfortunately weren’t successful.
Recent Alien Abductions is presented by Sacred Fools Theater Company at The Broadwater Theater Complex through November 22, 2026. Tickets are available at www.sacredfools.org.
Pauline Adamek
