By Lauren Emily Whalen
In the program for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, both playwright Marco Antonio Rodríguez and director Wendy Mateo rave about the title character and emphasize the importance of Dominican representation.
The problems with Goodman Theatre’s world-premiere English-language stage adaptation of Junot Díaz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2007 novel aren’t its gifted ensemble and passionate production team. It’s source material. From the cutesification of mental illness to the lack of compassion toward its traumatized female characters, the play is ultimately undone.
‘Oscar Wao’ and the women it can’t quite see
For Mateo and Rodríguez, Oscar (Lenin D’Anthony Izquierdo) is a nerd who ‘loves out loud’—a sci-fi geek, Dominican by way of New Jersey, out to lose his virginity and subvert stereotypical machismo. But after rejection from Jenni (Jalbelly Guzmán) leads to a suicide attempt, Oscar journeys to Santo Domingo to break the family fukú, or curse, that has led to generations of bad luck. Even with his roommate Yunior (Kelvin Grullon) and sister Lola (Julissa Calderon) in tow, sweet sex worker Ybon (Guzmán) is proving very distracting.
However, Oscar’s boundary issues, including a prior hospitalization for female rejection, are played as cute quirks rather than a cause for concern. As the title indicates, he doesn’t survive, yet the play frames Oscar’s death as a tragic romance, with little space given to the complexity of what brought him there. Instead, he obsesses over yet another woman who doesn’t return his affections.
It wants better content.
Oscar isn’t the only one the script shortchanges. Lola’s struggle with her boyfriend’s infidelity, as well as Oscar’s mother’s (Yohanna Florentino) cancer and the horrific reasons that led her to leave Santo Domingo, are downplayed. Rather than treated with empathy, the women around him are pushed to get over it.
The popularity of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is indicative of the rarity of Dominican narratives. There’s something worth celebrating in seeing their lives centered on a major American stage. It’s also worth asking whose lives, exactly, those turn out to be.
If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by call or text.
Is it worth seeing ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’?
1 out of 5 stars
Goodman’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao wants to celebrate Dominican lives. It just keeps shortchanging the women in its own story.
- Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago
- Notable performers: Lenin D’Anthony Izquierdo, Julissa Calderon, Yohanna Florentino
- Running time: Approximately 2 hours 45 minutes with one intermission
- Performances through April 12, 2026
