Review: ‘Kevin and the River Flan’ Blends Magical Realism and Emotional Truth

Kevin (Nico Grimes) with best friend Gwen (Jessica Calle) in Brandon Urrutia’s “Kevin and the River Flan” getting its world premiere at Main Street Players. (Photos courtesy of Main Street Players)

Playwright Brandon Urrutia draws on personal experience for “Kevin and the River Flan,” a funny, poignant and often surreal almost 90-minute play receiving its world premiere at Main Street Players through Sunday, May 17.

According to Urrutia, the play began after they accidentally killed a monarch butterfly on the way to Miami’s Summer Shorts Festival. Overcome with guilt, they transformed that small but unsettling moment into a story exploring depression, cultural identity and what it means to feel caught between worlds.

Nico Grimes plays Kevin in what the director calls a love letter for what it’s like to be a queer person with mental health struggles. (Photo courtesy of Main Street Players)

The script blends magical realism with dark comedy in a story that follows a young Cuban American grappling with depression, cultural identity and disconnection.

After a defiant act involving an offering left for the Yoruba goddess Ochún, the titular character is thrust into a metaphysical journey where he is confronted by a mother in mourning, a goddess ticked off that her dessert has been absconded, and a best friend exasperated by Kevin’s constant threats of killing themselves. The impulsive act of devouring the dessert sends Kevin on a metaphysical journey that forces them to confront both the consequences of their actions and their own ambivalence about life.

Nico Graves as Kevin and Rubi Del Rio-Herrera as Ofelia in Brandon Urrutia’s “Kevin and the River Flan” getting its world premiere at Main Street Players. (Photos courtesy of Main Street Players)

Kevin, portrayed with emotional honesty by Nico Grimes, fully inhabits the title character, balancing Kevin’s repeated declarations of wanting to die with the frustration of feeling disconnected, which is compounded by them being alienated from a language and culture that should feel like home. Grimes never lets Kevin become a symbol of despair but using physicality and a wind-eyed wonderment finds humor and vulnerability in the character.

Kevin’s best friend, Gwen (Jessica Calle), has shown up with a $2 Taco Bell meal and just wants to make sure the burritos don’t go to waste. Weary of Kevin’s repeated declarations that they want to die, Gwen initially responds with exasperation before the play gradually reveals that Kevin is grappling with emotional struggles. Calle as Gwen is a believable bestie and balances just the right bit of visible irritation mixed with a genuine caring. She’s someone you’d want as your BFF.

Gwen (Jessica Calle) breaks free in a moment as Kevin (Nico Grimes) looks on. Giuseppe Fusca as Babalu-Aye is in the background. (Photo courtesy of Main Street Players)

Kevin’s troubles multiply after they eat a slice of flan left as an offering to the Yoruba goddess Ochún by a grieving mother, Ofelia Marin (superbly played by Rubi Del Rio-Herrera), mourning the loss of her son.

Among the production’s strongest moments are the scenes shared by Grimes and Del Rio-Herrera. Their emotional confrontation after Kevin consumes the flan she has left as an offering to her dead son carries genuine weight, particularly as Ochún insists Kevin seek forgiveness by asking Ofelia to prepare another.

One of the play’s most effective devices involves language. Kevin repeatedly insists they do not speak Spanish, reflecting Urrutia’s own experience growing up with a Cuban father and white mother while never fully mastering the language. Much of the Spanish dialogue is intentionally left untranslated.

In a note to producers, Urrutia writes: “I did not get subtitles, neither do you.”

Best friends Gwen (Jessica Calle) and Kevin (Nico Grimes) in Brandon Urrutia’s “Kevin and the River Flan” getting its world premiere at Main Street Players. (Photos courtesy of Main Street Players)

Rather than translating those moments, Urrutia mirrors Kevin’s own experience of feeling disconnected from a language and culture that remain deeply personal but never fully accessible. It seeps from the stage and out into the audience – a purposeful choice to be part of the journey.

Another thoughtful choice came in the casting of Kevin, portrayed by a nonbinary actor.

The playwright, who identifies as nonbinary, said the decision was director Ina Ruiz’s rather than something specified in the script. While they intentionally leave future productions open to different casting choices, Urrutia said they appreciated how the production’s approach added another dimension to Kevin’s search for identity. This may be another layer, however, that the playwright might want to consider if other regional theaters choose to present the work.

When the audience enters, a figure resembling a meditative statue sits quietly cross-legged on a stool with a crutch and a bottle of pills nearby, signaling the play’s blend of spirituality and emotional struggle. It’s Giuseppe Fusca who lends an understated presence to Babalú-Ayé, deepening the play’s spiritual landscape and reinforcing its exploration of life, death and transformation.

Giuseppe Fusca, left, lends an understated presence to Babalú-Ayé. Shown with Nico Grimes as Kevin in Brandon Urrutia’s “Kevin and the River Flan” getting its world premiere at Main Street Players. (Photos courtesy of Main Street Players)

Chaira Jacobus brings a forceful, wise and watchful presence to Ochún, sitting unnoticed in the audience before stepping into the action, subtly suggesting the goddess’s influence long before Kevin recognizes it.

Ruiz’s direction confidently navigates the play’s shifts, never overwhelming the emotional stakes between dark comedy and magical realism so that the personal core of the story remains intact.

Amanda Sparhawk’s scenic design uses Main Street’s small space to create a flexible environment that moves fluidly between the ordinary and the metaphysical. Danny Nieves’ lighting bathes the stage in surreal colors that heighten the emotional and spiritual landscape. Hunter Castlemann’s costumes establish each character’s identity, keeping the earthbound grounded in the everyday while the otherworldly beings are more ethereal. The exhibition is how he dresses Ofelia who seems to straddle both worlds.

Chaira Jacobus brings a forceful, wise and watchful presence to Ochún, shown with Jessica Calle. (Photo courtesy of Main Street Players)

While “Kevin and the River Flan” confronts suicide, depression and grief, its humor keeps it from becoming a meditation. The play ultimately explores cultural identity, forgiveness and the possibility that even life’s smallest moments can lead to unexpected transformation.

While “Kevin and the River Flan” confronts suicide, depression and grief, it also finds room for humor, tenderness and moments of absurdity. Ruiz and the cast strike the balance that Urrutia’s play deserves, giving equal weight to the exploration of cultural identity, belonging, self-discovery and forgiveness.

WHAT: “Kevin and the River Flan”

WHERE: Main Street Players, Main Street Playhouse, 6812 Main St., Miami Lakes

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through Sunday, May 17

COST:  $30,  $25 for students and seniors with ID

INFORMATION: 305-558-3737 or mainstreetplayers.com.

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