Nosotros La Gente
(We The People)
By Jerry Montoya
CAST
3 actors · 2M, 1W, with doubling
SETTING
The Coachella Valley, California · 1940s onward
LANGUAGE
English, with Spanish woven throughout
PREMIERE
B Street Theatre, Sacramento · 2025
THE PLAY
An epic romance for three actors, set in the 1940s Coachella Valley, following Sophie and two Mexican-American brothers across six decades of war, work, and waiting for rain.
In a close-knit Mexican-American community, a woman and two brothers carve out a life in the California desert. As Sophie plans her future with Santiago, he enlists to serve in the Second World War, and Salvador promises to protect everything his brother is leaving behind.
What follows is a story of love bound by loyalty and undone by time: a promise kept too well, a family remade by absence, and a valley that tests all who stay.
PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTE
The Coachella Valley in Southern California is famous for its music festival, its world-class golf courses, and for tennis' unofficial fifth major, the BNP Paribas Open.
Before that there was mainly agriculture, and the people who worked it. My family was one of them.
People ask me what generation American I am. My answer is always the same. First American. My family has been here a very long time. I have, framed in my home, the wedding certificate of Marcos Montoya, married in Santa Fe in 1718.
This play is based on a true story. A romance that began during the Second World War, and I am not sure it has ever ended.
It is a story of my family. Nosotros La Gente. We the people.
— Jerry Montoya
WATCH
From the world premiere production at B Street Theatre.
PRESS
"Another masterful blend of emotion and humor hits the stage… Nosotros La Gente is just as enthralling as Montoya's previous works."
Courtney Symes, BroadwayWorld
"The story that unfolds… is personal and sincere, with a warmth that avoids veering into saccharine sentimentality."
Odin Rasco, Sacramento News & Review
"Poetry-like beauty… pervades the play like palm trees in the desert."
Odin Rasco, Sacramento News & Review
"This show includes everything you could ask for in a mesmerizing package."
Courtney Symes, BroadwayWorld
It has been my honor to be a wife to both of these men. One, for a moment that never ended, and the other, for a lifetime that did.
—Sophie Carrillo
PRODUCTION
Arusi Santi, Andrea San Miguel & Jaime José Hernández
Arusi Santi & Andrea San Miguel
Andrea San Miguel & Jaime José Hernández
Arusi Santi & Jaime José Hernández
The company
Arusi Santi & Andrea San Miguel
Production photos by Tara Sissom-Pittaro · B Street Theatre, 2025
PRODUCTION HISTORY
WORLD PREMIERE
B Street Theatre — The Sofia, Sacramento, CA
April 23 – May 18, 2025
Director — Lyndsay Burch
Choreography — Jacob Gutierrez-Montoya
Scenic & Lighting Design — Christina Barrigan
Costume Design — Rebecca Valentino
Sound & Projection Design — Lynnae Vana
Properties — Jessica Sorenson
Intimacy Coordinator — Nicole Limón
Stage Manager — Lynnae Vana
Andrea San Miguel — Sophie
Jaime José Hernández — Santiago
Arusi Santi — Salvador
AMERICAN STAGE — 2020
Commissioned and first produced as a live streaming event
Producing Artistic Director — Stephanie Gularte
Co-Directors — Kristin Clippard and Jerry Montoya
Scenic Design — Jerid Fox
Sound & Lighting Design — Benjamin Ismail
Costume Design — Jill Castle
Stage Manager — Rachel Harrison
Diana Garle and Daniel Llaca
FOR PRODUCERS
Form — Full-length drama in two acts
Running time — Approx. 2 hours 10 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission
Company size — 3 actors, with doubling
Scenic — Single flexible unit set
Genre — Historical romance / period drama, drawn from the playwright's family history
Availability — Available for production. Script on request.
REPRESENTATION
Rights and licensing for Nosotros La Gente:
Gurman Agency LLC, New York
Read the play
Producers, artistic directors and literary managers: the full script is available on request. Licensing and rights are handled by the Gurman Agency. For anything about the play itself — the history behind it, what it needs in your space — write to me directly.