Stage Notes: A chat with queer actor Francine Gonzalez of KDT's 'Dream Hou$e'

In Kitchen Dog Theater’s current show, Dream Hou$e, Two Latinx sisters are appearing on an HGTV-style reality show to sell their family home. Located in a hot spot neighborhood, the sisters hope to capitalize on its momentum for a profitable opportunity.

They perform for the camera, but the two slip into the mysterious sister space, and the show’s host seems to hide something behind a perpetually upbeat attitude and cheery smile.

The sisters grapple with family history, sacrifice and each other.

The show opened April 9 and is directed by KDT Co-Artistic Director Christopher Carlos.

Lesbian actor Francine Gonzalez of Dallas stars in the show as Patricia, the elder of the two sisters. She talked about the show with Dallas Voice and explained her character further as well as the show’s subtle queer perspective.

Patricia is the sister responsible for reaching out to the show to sell the house. But her sister Julia (Bethany Mejorado) isn’t fully on board. The Flip It and List It show host Tessa (Lily Gast) is enthusiastic to reframe the home to sell with all the “usual Latin household” designs with her silent crew of three movers and helpers.

“She’s definitely more uptight than her sister, being this professional woman,” Gonzalez said of her character, Patricia. “She doesn’t dive too much into her feelings. She was also a caretaker for her mother.”

Eliana Pipes’ play is a strange exploration of Latin family and culture, gentrification and even colonization, all disguised as a dramedy and framed through these glossy home improvement shows most people are familiar with.

But then it takes a few turns into the supernatural.

Could the house be alive? Is there something more sinister about the show host? And most importantly…

“The sister space only happens between Patricia and Julia, where the world pauses around us,” Gonzalez said. The two either snap or gesture and the sisters are in their own world.

The two use this to sort of sidebar about what’s going on at the moment. Often they address conflict particularly about selling the house, but then Tessa figures out how to enter the space.

As tensions build, the house also reacts and almost bleeds as mold is discovered. But then, to add to the mix, familial artifacts appear.

“The surrealism of it all really starts flowing into the play early with the space, and then we start to see Tessa differently, trying to get what she wants at all costs,” Gonzalez said.

There’s a tense but sensual scene between Patricia and Tessa with a distinct intimacy.

“Well, Tessa is touching Patricia, using that to get what she wants. I mean, she’s this colonizer, but also that opens up to Patricia’s character,” Gonzalez said, noting while that her character is queer, the play only gives subtle nods to that.

“There are notes in the script by the playwright that symbolize she is queer,” Gonzalez said. “When I first read the play, I wondered ‘Is she? Am I thinking she is, because I am?’ And it’s still a new play so there wasn’t much to research.

“I needed to clear the air, and Chris said, ‘Yes, she’s queer, just not fully out.’”

Gonzalez continued, “She’s an accountant, and she wants to be this successful, country club-type, but that also doesn’t fall into her heritage. I think queerness can 100 percent derive from that same place.”

Queerness and culture can mix in different ways when it comes to Latin heritage. There is stigma, prejudice and, certainly, religion. The 29 year-old Florida native can relate.

“Patricia was easier to connect to. I grew up in that type of household, where Mom is very Catholic. My parents are divorced but my dad is like a mega-Catholic. I’m out to my Mom, but when I told my dad, it didn’t go over well,” she said. “Queerness isn’t always open in such households, and it can be scary to come out in Latin culture.”

Instead, Gonzalez moved to Dallas to attend SMU and came out here. Being away from home helped, as did her theater community.

“I think being around all different kinds of people opened my eyes so much. You find your community, and theater people are just so diverse and proud to be who they are,” she said.

And now Gonzalez is living the dream and, in some ways, telling her own story right now onstage.

“I appreciate my family culture, but I also had to make my own dreams happen. And when I see audiences — Latin women —– react to this story — it’s why I do this,” she said.

“I want all audiences to live in these stories, because family struggles are the human experience, but we’re still having fun within the show’s comedy.”

Dream Hou$e runs through May 3.

–Rich Lopez

Stage Notes: A chat with queer actor Francine Gonzalez of KDT’s ‘Dream Hou$e’

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