Latino Theater Company returns for their fall season with a laugh out loud hit in Israel López Reyes‘ The Little King of Norwalk, now having its world premiere at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Not only is this play a meaningful tribute to Chicano identity, it is a love letter to the city of Norwalk wrapped up in a hysterically wacky film noir with a touch of magical realism and a nod to Nikolai Gogol‘s The Inspector General.

This play is theatre at its most vibrant with imagination and heart, the rare awe-inspiring & sidesplitting kind that makes you want to keep coming back for the live arts.

Commissioned by Latino Theater Company and developed its Circle of Imaginistas playwriting group, the world premiere of The Little King of Norwalk is a modern barrio fable about power, politics and the price of survival, set against a real-life scandal that unfolded last year when Norwalk imposed a ban on shelters, supportive housing, and businesses that traditionally serve the poor. Following a DUI, Juan attends his first mandated AA meeting — where he’s mistaken for someone powerful and influential who might be of use to the ambitious mayor and his inner circle. Juan wields his new power to benefit himself, but soon goes too far. Can he find redemption by confessing the truth?

If you’re a fan of The Naked Gun series, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and similar comedic film noir fare, you’re going to love The Little King of Norwalk. An ominous spotlight immediately focuses on Richard Azurdia who hams it up as The Law and immediately we’re off to the races in what is possibly one of the funniest plays I’ve ever seen in Los Angeles. Mayor Alvarado (Randy Vasquez) and his ambitious inner circle — city manager Nancy Juarez (Ruth Livier), chief of police Ricky Ortiz (Richard Azurdia again), and school superintendent Alex Ayala (J. Ed Araiza) chief of police Ricky Ortiz, these characters and the incredible actors who play them deserve a special award for some sort of Wackiest Ensemble because the amount of zany fun they were having on stage was uproariously infective. Seeing Azurdia dance in the karaoke scene might have been one of the most iconic highlights of this year when it comes to someone just letting it rip.

Xavi Moreno and Esperanza America are the grounded anchors as Juan Perez and his twin sister Wendy Perez as they balance out the wacky city hall officials with gravitas and meaning. Reyes did a terrific job in maintaining some hard hitting reality despite the zany nature of everything else that is happening and Moreno and America are game in delivering this. With fine direction from Geoffrey Rivas, these two actors create such full performances that we care for the struggles they are going through, living paycheck to paycheck and never knowing that one bad turn can send them out into the streets.

Centered around the real-life event of the Norwalk city banning houseless shelters in 2024 and California governor Gavin Newsom suing the city for implementing such a ban, there is a lot to unpack in this comedy. First off, the villains of the story are all Mexican Americans, just like the main leads, but with the main difference being that they have worked hard to achieve white passing status to the point that they anglicize the pronunciations of their own names. This is actually refreshing to see as more often than not, the greatest threats to progress is not always literally white people but the white patriarchal system in play within our own global majority communities.

Second, it is interesting to see Gavin Newsom painted in a positive light when it comes to how houseless people are treated as he himself is waging war on the unhoused population by clearing out and banning encampments. While it seems like he is an ally to the city of Norwalk by insisting that their shelters be maintained, there are very little efforts from the governor of implementing similar strategies for the rest of California.

Third, towards the end of the play, the city officials are under attack by the houseless who are rising up in their anger of having their shelters be taken away from them. While the notion of such an upheaval seem wonderful, it is barely rooted in reality as more often than not, such uprisings would be looked heavily down upon by liberals for being too violent or unruly if they were to happen in real life. That being said, these are such dreams we write in plays and films (a similar example being One Battle After Another).

The Little King of Norwalk is not a heavy handed message play nor is it setting out to be. The main characters’ problems of maintaining their financial statuses are not magically solved nor is the houseless situation anywhere being fixed. But it is a deft play that makes you pay attention to the city of Norwalk, the majority Latino community that lives there, and your own judgment to how you perceive the unsheltered all the while by making you laugh hysterically throughout the whole show.

THE LITTLE KING OF NORWALK
• Written by Israel López Reyes
• Directed by Geoffrey Rivas
• Starring Esperanza America, Richard Azurdia, J. Ed Araiza, Ruth Livier, Xavi Moreno, Randy Vasquez
• Produced by The Latino Theater Company

WHEN:
• Previews: Sept. 25 – Oct. 3
• Performances: Oct. 4 – Nov. 2
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 4 p.m.

WHERE:
The Los Angeles Theatre Center
514 S. Spring Street
Los Angeles CA 90013

PARKING:
• $8 with box office validation at Los Angeles Garage Associate Parking structure, 545 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 (between 5th and 6th Streets, just behind the theater)
• Metered parking available on streets surrounding the theater.
• Take the Metro: nearest stop is Pershing Square (two blocks west of The LATC)

TICKET PRICES:
$10-$48 (except opening night)
• Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (except opening night, Oct. 4): $48
• Students, Seniors, Veterans and LAUSD teachers: $24 with valid ID
• All Thursday night performances and previews: $10
• Opening night (Oct. 4): $75 (includes post-performance reception)

HOW:
latinotheaterco.org
(213) 489-0994