The Underground Railroad famously led slaves out of bondage within the Southern states to freedom within the north however, for some, it additionally ran south to Mexico.
That’s the untold historical past that unfurls in “Mexodus,” an usually explosive hip-hop musical now in its West Coast premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Created by and starring Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, this formidable piece tries to fill in a number of the gaps in our collective reminiscence.
This live-looping musical, which pivots from reggaeton and rap to gospel, usually sweeps you away with its sheer sonic energy. Whereas the narrative is much less deep and wealthy than the music, the ability of forgotten historical past, the racial aftermath of the Mexican-American Conflict, is sort of bracing.
Do you know that roughly 4,000 to 10,000 slaves fled the US after Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821? Historical past isn’t a well-liked concern in American tradition proper now however Quijada and Robinson are on a mission to alter all that.
Within the method of “Hamilton,” this 105-minute two-hander tries to place the hearth again into American historical past so {that a} fashionable viewers can really feel the warmth of race, class and borders over time.
As Trump’s current screeds, suggesting that Haitians are consuming cats and canine within the heartland, remind us, there’s a lot bigotry and concern about newcomers on this nation of immigrants.
Quijada and Robinson rap their hearts out tracing the journey of Henry (Robinson), a slave who escapes from oppressive 1850s Texas to freedom in Mexico, the place slavery had already been abolished. That’s a grim reminder that the land of the free and the house of the courageous has all the time had its darkish facet.
Directed by Rep affiliate inventive director David Mendizábal, this new piece nonetheless feels unfinished theatrically and it loses dramatic momentum about midway by way of, however it’s all the time mesmerizing in its musical pulse.
Born into slavery, Henry is just 8 when he’s offered to a Texan with a cotton plantation close to the Rio Grande, dwelling in chains his entire life. “Take these shackles off my hands,” he pleas.
When he fights again towards the grasp, he places his life in jeopardy. As soon as on the lam, Henry crosses paths with Carlos (Quijada), a soldier within the Mexican Military, who’s additionally misplaced his entire household, his identification. As their story unfurls, the burden of historical past feels heavy certainly.
Quijada and Robinson are each gifted musicians in addition to charismatic performers however the two key tales on the core of this play don’t but lower deep sufficient into the bone. The melodies dig deeper than the textual content and “Mexodus” usually feels stretched too skinny. If extra depth and element had been chiseled into every man’s story, the historical past would hit as arduous because the music.
The beat is what sticks with you as “Mexodus” forces darkish chapters of the American expertise into the sunshine.
‘MEXODUS’
Created and carried out by Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, offered by Berkeley Repertory Theatre
By means of: Oct. 20
The place: Berkeley Rep’s Peet’s Theatre, 2025 Addison St., Berkeley
Operating time: 105 minutes, no intermission
Tickets: $47-$106; www.berkeleyrep.org
