LatinUS’ production of La Versión Infinita takes us on a wild 80 minute ride

What if...what if we are not truly alone? I am not talking about far off galaxies thousand of light years away although that is a possibility. I am talking about parallel universes that mirror our own. In effect, every living person has an identical twin or twins and the actions of any one of us affects the other.

This is the theme of Maria Paula Del Olmo’s, Daniela Contrevas Bocic’s and Carolina Sturta’s “La Versión Infinita” (The Infinite Version). Lilian (Sandra Insaurralde) is a dedicated insurance sales employee who is forever earning employee of the month praises from her boss (Raul Duran). As good as she is at selling life insurance “Have you ever thought about the future?” “Would you be able to leave a legacy for your children if you passed away?”.

Lilian lives with her mother (Monica Torres) who spends much of her free time watching an alternate reality television show “Noches Paranormales”. Lilian’s dream is to train to be an astronaut and to one day work on the moon. Her entire world is shaken to the core by one phone call. On the other end of the line is a woman, Nailil (Maricris Gutiérrez) with a voice identical to hers claiming to be Lilian in another dimension. Not only that but there are groups of Lilian’s strung out through out an infinite number of alternative worlds that includes another twin, Anilin (Elena Thomson).

The production is done entirely in Spanish but with English sub-titles projected on the upstage wall making it easy to understand the speaking parts but not necessarily what is actually going on. Like watching a two ring circus one must focus on two things at once (the English sub-titles and the stage action). From time to time a surreal projection is thrown in appearing like an infinite tunnel twisting and turning without end. The music is loud and garish in order to further confound your thinking process and the costumes are done in florescent colors and futuristic styles making one think that this is all happening in the future. From time to time all of the characters suddenly break out in fits of dancing with no reason given for the action.

Eventually the host (Alejandro Martinez) of the TV show sends out a request for anyone having had an unusual futuristic experience as Lillian’s mom convinces her to call her encounter in. The show’s producer (Gloria Ossa) takes the call and after some hesitation Lilian agrees to come on the show hoping that her alternates will join her.

The entire cast is quite comfortable in their roles as they attempt to transcend conventional and current thought processes. It is a high energy show with all of the actors leaving nothing on stage. The costumes by Inda Blatch-Geib lend an unworldly design to an already way out there show. Jasmine Golphin came up with the wild projections that take us into another dimension of thought. Angie Hayes’ sound design is crisp and clear and the Subtitles by Pablo Dee La Vega are right on cue making following the show quite easy. Jaemine Park’s lighting is well focused adding to the story understanding as well. The show is directed fluidly by Jonathon Morgan.

Sometimes you need to just take a chance and go see a show that will have you asking “What is it all about?”. This is such a show. While confounding in parts, the idea of alternate universes and persons is not that far off. Come experience the future of theater right now.

The LatinUS production of La Versión Infinita (The Infinite Version) will be on stage at the Pivot Center located at 2037 West 25^th Street in Cleveland, Ohio through October 12, 2025. For more information and to order tickets go to https://www.latinustheater.com/ or call (216) 369-7158.