El Coquí tells the story of Alex,
an unemployed young comic
book artist still wrestling with
the death of his father, a police-
man, in the line of duty. Adrift
in his career and his life, he de-
cides to see what it’s like to be a
superhero, and begins to dress
up as his creation El Coquí Espe-
ctacular (a Puerto Rican super-
hero who gets his power from
a vejigante carnival mask and
his name from a tree frog) and
fight crime in his neighborhood
of Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Mean-
while, his responsible older
brother Joe is encouraging Alex
to join him at his advertising
agency, where Joe works selling
sugary soda to Latino consum-
ers. When Joe is fired from a
project, the two, with the help of
a young photographer named
Yesica, hatch a plan: to debut El
Coquí at the Puerto Rican Day
Parade and prove themselves to
the world.
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 42
“It’s a play about identity and
nerd culture,” explained Barbot.
“Alex is dealing with his sense
of disconnect from his heritage
by creating a superhero that is
everything he thinks it means to
be Puerto Rican.”
The story is based somewhat
on Barbot’s own experiences
as a Puerto Rican playwright
who has faced questions of his
own identity and heritage, has
worked in marketing, and is a
comic book fan.
El Coquí provides an opportu-
nity to show a superhero that is
not the standard white super-
hero generations have grown
up with. Barbot admits he has
encountered people who have
questioned why characters of
his weren’t white; experiences
in which people have wondered
if something culturally specific
will alienate audiences or even
if characters didn’t match up to
general stereotypes.
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