Ay, Compadre!

Rudolfo Anaya is best known for his classic novel, Bless Me, Ultima. It became his best known work, a well developed coming-of-age story about the Hispanic experience in 1940s New Mexico. But he wrote many other pieces, including seven plays, among which Ay, Compadre! was written in 1994 and is currently being produced by the Sandia Performing Arts Company.

Ay, Compadre!  is a humorous and poignant look at the lives of two middle-aged Hispanic couples in New Mexico as they navigate the personal, physical, and marital crises of aging.  By the time the night ends, each must decide what it means to grow, to love, and to stay compadres in a world that keeps shifting beneath their feet.

Written by Anaya in 1994, the play focuses on best friends Daniel and Iggy, and their wives Linda and Helen, as they navigate middle age issues, specifically impotence and menopause. While both men are successful in their own careers, Daniel is sensitive and Iggy is a force of nature.  Both wives are struggling with concerns of loneliness and lack of communication with their spouses. How they all examine these issues and what comes of “saying it out loud” will become the theme of this play.

Director:  Jeremy Levin

Cast: Ruben Muller as Daniel, James R. Chaves as Iggy, Margie Maes as Helen, Yvonne Vallegos as Linda, Daniel Cruz as Steve, and Rachel Dodd as Ashley.

Saturday and Sunday October 3&4, 10&11, 2026     2:00 p.m.

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