One notable factoid about La Havana Madrid, the subject of an affecting new play by Teatro Vista‘s Sandra Delgado, is its former location: a prominent hot spot for Chicago’s Latino community in the 1960s, the nightclub once resided on the corner of Belmont and Sheffield in Lakeview.
From there, we’re introduced to severalcharacters of Latino and Caribbean descent, each with vivid tales of persecution, adversity, and, at some stage, redemption. There’s a Cuban teen, for example, separated from her parents and sent to Chicago at the height of the Cuban Revolution. Another thread follows a Colombian couple whose relationship is tested when one of them is forced to move overseas for work. Most memorably, there’s Carlos (inspired by Latino photographer Carlos Flores), the troubled son of Puerto Rican parents who grows up to find his calling as a visual artist.
Through 5/28: Wed-Sat 8 PM, Sun 4 PM, Steppenwolf 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted, 312-335-1650, teatrovista.org, $50.
