Growing Up Gonzales

This play is a bittersweet comedy about two brothers growing up in the Bronx, their coming of age marked by the untimely death of their father. One actor plays both parts. The play is filled with the hearty characters, flavors, and textures of the Bronx in the 1970s and displays a witty understanding of life.

Johnny and Cisco are two brothers six years apart in age and miles apart in sensibility. Johnny, the rough and rugged older brother who spent most of his life trying to toughen Cisco up, finds himself drowning in a pool of guilt, emotionally claiming responsibility for Cisco’s death. Cisco, the needy, innocent free spirit with a flair for the outrageous, shares his unusual wit and wisdom with Johnny about days past through a set of diaries he leaves behind. The result is a warm, affectionate, and hilarious love letter from one brother to another.