The lives of two women from very different worlds collide in the illusionary paradise of a Mexican resort. Sarah, a Canadian wedding guest, is a shot glass half empty. Adriana, a fastidious and vivacious hotel floor manager, finds solace in establishing order. At first glance, they’re simply animated, but looking closer reveals the anxieties they’re trying to hide. When their worlds collide, everything they’ve kept hidden comes into sharp focus.

A bilingual play in English and Spanish, each woman speaks in her own language and shares her unique experiences directly with the audience. Their vastly different realities are reflected in parallel, coming together to mirror and magnify a mutual pain. Through nuanced and surprisingly funny monologues, Quintana and Zelaya-Cervantes focus an attentive microscope on female strength and solidarity to stunning effect.

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Las vidas de dos mujeres que vienen de mundos muy distintos chocan en el ilusorio paraíso de un resort mexicano. Sarah, canadiense, invitada de una boda, es un caballito de tequila medio vacío. Adriana, una meticulosa y vivaz gerente de piso del hotel, encuentra consuelo poniendo orden. A simple vista, parecen arquetipos de personajes que ya conocemos, pero mirarlas de más cerca revela la ansiedad que ambas intentan esconder. Cuando sus mundos chocan, todo lo que han estado escondiendo entra en foco y se vuelve nítido.

Esta es una obra bilingüe en inglés y en español, en la que cada mujer habla su propio idioma y comparte sus experiencias únicas directamente con el público. Sus realidades, infinitamente diferentes, se ven reflejadas en paralelo, uniéndose para mostrar y magnificar un dolor mutuo. A través de diálogos llenos de matices y monólogos sorprendentemente cómicos, Quintana y Zelaya-Cervantes colocan la fuerza femenina y la solidaridad bajo un atento microscópico, con efectos impactantes.

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Mexican playwright, screenwriter, director, and translator Paula Zelaya-Cervantes graduated from UBC in Vancouver, Canada, with a double major in Theatre and Honours English Literature thanks to the support of the International Leader of Tomorrow Scholarship granted to only thirteen students worldwide each year. Paula has written and directed several plays including The Orbweaver/El Hilador (Teatro Helénico 2018, Mexico City; Vancouver Fringe Festival International Mainstage Selection, 2016) and 245 Acts of Unspeakable Evil, which she co-wrote with Ana González Bello and which won the Latino National Playwright Award granted by the Arizona Theatre Company and the Sharon Enkin Play for Young People Award granted by the Playwright’s Guild of Canada. Paula has adapted and translated close to thirty plays, several of which she has also directed.

Paula Zelaya-Cervantes' profile page

“... a riveting drama showcasing a pair of vulnerable women who each come from very diverse backgrounds, economic levels, and, most significantly, native languages. While their individual experiences couldn't be any more different, they do both share the rather arduous common goal of trying to get past their respective prior traumas that have shaped who they are and have continued to haunt them as adults.”

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“Un fascinante drama que muestra a dos mujeres vulnerables que vienen de lugares, niveles socioeconómicos, y, más importantemente, idiomas, muy distintos. Mientras que sus experiencias personales no podrían ser más diversas, las dos sí comparten el arduo objetivo de dejar atrás sus respectivos traumas del pasado, los cuales han moldeado quienes son y han continuado persiguiéndolas como adultas.”

Michael Quintos, Broadway World

“... a lush, layered, complex story with the depth, poetry, and drama of a great novel. Just like when you’re standing barefoot on a beach as the tide comes in and your feet slowly sink down into cool, wet sand—then sink a little more—this bilingual two-hander takes you deeper and deeper and deeper into the characters’ lives, hearts, and minds in the most thoughtful, impactful of ways as it goes.”

Gail Johnson, Stir

“... an impressively mature work of art.”

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“... una obra de arte impresionantemente madura.”

Colin Thomas, ColinThomas.ca

“I loved Clean / Espejos because it didn’t feel like a play with a Latinx or Spanglish aesthetic. Instead, it felt truly and fundamentally bilingual and both Adriana and Sarah were culturally specific entities, from language to how they dream, from their fears to what their biggest flaws are.

El punto es que me encantó Clean / Espejos porque no parecía una obra de teatro con una estética Latine o Spanglish — se sintió para mi verdadera y fundamentalmente bilingüe. Tanto Adriana como Sarah son entidades culturalmente específicas, desde el lenguaje hasta la forma en que sueñan, desde sus miedos hasta sus mayores defectos.”

Dora Prieto, Vancouver Arts Review