Scenic and Projections Design by Leigh Henderson

Teatro Visión (San José, CA), World Premiere February 2026

by Yosimar Reyes

The world premiere of the new play created in collaboration with community members in East San José

directed by Rodrigo García
with original music by Iván Floresof Discos Resaca

Over the course of a community story-gathering project, Teatro Visión and Yosimar Reyes designed No llegamos aquí solos to share stories rooted in the lives of our East San José neighbors. Blending Yosimar’s deep knowledge of the Mayfair community in which he was raised, his honest and emotive poetic voice, and Teatro Visión’s extensive experience with community-engaged theater practices, the project nurtures community power and inspires civic engagement in East San José.

It's Mamá Doña's 85th birthday celebration, but her grandson Ignacio has decided that today is the day he is called to organize his community in preparation for an ICE raid. When his neighbors in their apartment complex don't quite gel with Ignacio’s methods, he learns an important lesson about how to care for the community he loves.

The scenery is composed of moveable cubes and doors to allow for the easy transformation of the space from one apartment to another. The concrete texture and color of the scenery is inspired by the East San José apartment complex where the story takes place, in particular by the light rail construction process currently in process in the neighborhood.

The projections overlay technological communications like instagram messages and TikTok videos with intimate looks into domestic spaces and community experiences, using photography and videography by San José-based documentarian Alex Knowbody as well as historical images. Projected in layers onto an upstage cyc, the painted floor, and a midstage slit drape that imparts texture and movement to the images, the projections pay tribute to the complex and powerful lives of the East San José community members who inspired the play.