Laugh Out Loud "Latin History for Morons"

When I first saw Latin History for Morons on Oceanside Theatre Company’s (OTC) 2025 season plans I was thrilled. Finally, a play that will reach out to San Diego’s North County Latinx community that I live in. Then I watched John Leguizamo’s one man show on Netflix and I thought - there is no way any other ONE actor can do what John Leguizamo does in this play. 

Besides, Leguizamo writes from the perspective of a privileged dad whose kid attends private school in New York. Can this story really resonate with Southern Californians who celebrate Cesar Chavez Day and are much more connected to their heritage?

The answer turned out to be a resounding - Hell YES! 

The play’s star Rick Najera and director Herbert Siguenza have personalized Leguizamo’s history with up-to-the-moment jokes that hit home with allusions to San Diego’s Mayor Todd Gloria, Elon Musk, and headline stories referencing deportations to El Salvador and South African refugees. Najera blends his own story seamlessly with Leguizamo’s so that it is difficult to remember where one’s tale ends and the other begins, making references to local towns like Logan Heights and La Mesa, while keeping true to the central thread and plot of Leguizamo’s show, which tells the story of his son being bullied and the quest to help his son find a Latino hero.

Najera’s performance had the feel of a stand up comedy routine meeting a real classroom in that much of the monologue drifted between script and improvisation. Coming off of a year of teaching at an all boys school, I couldn’t help thinking how Leguizamo’s telling of the history of the defeat of the Aztecs and Incas by the conquistadors, with his dick jokes and slur words, would have gone over perfectly. It definitely made for a memorable refresher of the highlights. In his professor role Najera knew where he was taking the audience, but it was clear that each performance would be as different as a teacher’s classroom lectures and he connected with his audience as a professor would. Although, it definitely wasn’t a pure history lesson with the comedic timing delivered in most cases better than the facts with notable exceptions. 

During one such moment in the second act, Najera delivered a passionate monologue on Latino representation in the general population of the U.S., in congress, in the media, as medal honorees in the military and more. When he began to riff on the importance of facts in our current point in history and of recognizing the contributions of Latinos to the United States, his humor was replaced by a tangible earnestness and anger that connected deeply with the show’s preview night audience who called out their affirmations. 

OTC’s presentation of Latin History for Morons went well beyond my expectations for it with ongoing laugh out loud moments for me as a non-Latina as well as my Latino friends who attended the show with me. Written in such a way that references to Latin American culture were contextualized, even the very specific cultural jokes about Najera being a “guero” and the threat of the “chancla,” landed with me, though perhaps differently than they did for my friends. 

This localization and personalization of the show actually made it more enjoyable for me than Leguizamo’s Netflix version with Najera impressively stretched his comedy and acting skills to embody an array of characters from his therapist to the Incan king bearers, so that this one-man show had the feel of a full cast, winning over the original skeptic in me.

Show Details:

Latin History for Morons 

Written by John Legiizamo

Directed by Herbert Siguenza

May 23 – June 8, 2025

Oceanside Theatre Company

Sunshine Brooks Theater

Oceanside, California

https://oceansidetheatre.org/latin-history-for-morons/