TimeLine Theatre: Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars
Sandra Delgado
TimeLine Theatre Presents HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF STARS Review – A Transcending Mother/Daughter Relationship
TLDR: A mother came to the US from Mexico when she was too young to remember but now faces deportation even after living in the country her whole life. Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars brings up questions about citizenship and the scrutinous treatment of non-citizens.
Charlotte Arias and Sandra Delgado
TimeLine Theatre Brings Up Important Questions
For those who have never been through a process to become a citizen of a different country, TimeLine’s production of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars takes you through the difficulty of becoming a citizen of the United States. For Clara (played by playwright Sandra Delgado), she came to the US when she was 2 years old and has been here ever since. For many, living in one country for almost all your life would be enough to consider you a citizen. Unfortunately for Clara, after needing to get a passport to take her daughter on a fantastic vacation to France, she is met with obstacle after obstacle for obtaining citizenship.
For the first hour of the show, we meet with all the important people in Clara’s life. It’s a simplistic set with artistic video projections displayed on the wall behind the stage. Set pieces are brought out as we change scenes. We see her day-to-day life with her only daughter, Stella (Charlotte Arias), and the relationship they have at the breakfast table. Clara recently lost her job, so she makes a visit to Ruben’s (Joshua David Thomas) place for some weed and relaxing in a beanbag chair.. She makes a stop by Papi's (Ramón Camín) house and reminisces about her mother, softly pushing him to think about cleaning out her room. Her ex-husband (Brian King) lets himself into her home to pick something up for Stella and we see a polite relationship, but also why they didn’t work out.
After setting up her various relationships with the people in her life, each with their own experience of what it means to be American, we then get to the denouement of how citizenship might not even be possible for Clara. We get the breakdown of the legal system of how even though you may have lived here all your life, any smudge on your record is a harder strike against you compared to someone with birthright citizenship.
Sandra Delgado and Ramón Camín
Punctuating Emotions
As Stella notes in passing, she didn’t even see her mom cry at her grandma’s funeral. It’s clear that Clara keeps her emotions bottled up and tries to keep them in check in front of everyone else. However, for us audience members, we’re taken deeper into Clara’s emotions through interpretative movement pieces in between scenes performed either solo or with other members of the ensemble.
Water is projected on the back wall, and she grasps her throat and reaches towards the surface when she feels like she’s drowning. The ensemble slowly moves towards center stage and stands in a line, one behind the other, and breathes collectively as thousands of tiny dots move in the projection behind them. This is where we’re taken to an alternate plane of reality where perhaps not only Clara can exist, but her love for Stella can transcend time and place for them to remain connected.
Charín Álvarez and Sandra Delgado
The After Party Thoughts
The content of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars is important for audiences to know especially those who may not be familiar with the naturalization process and also for being in this political climate as Chicago fights off ICE agent abductions. However, the emotional interpretative movement scenes took us out of the story rather than add to it. Though these movement breaks are supposed to reflect Clara’s emotions, they felt surface level like they were indicating emotion but not actually reflecting feeling. The emotions coming from Sandra Delgado and Charlotte Arias as Stella during the actual scenes felt more realistic and where we feel more deeply for them.
For those who may have been through something similar and are looking for art that reflects that experience or for those that are looking for an educational piece that expands their worldview, Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars would be a good fit for you.
RECOMMENDED
Sandra Delgado, Sandra Delgado, and Brian King
When
Now through November 9, 2025
Where
Lookingglass Theatre
163 E. Pearson St.
Chicago, IL 60611
Runtime: 90min, no intermission
Tickets
$40+
Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at (773) 281-8463 or through the TimeLine Theatre website
Photos
Brett Beiner Photography
Cast members of Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars
CAST
Sandra Delgado (Clara)
Charín Álvarez (Vega/Chava)
Ramón Camín (Papi)
Charlotte Arias (Stella)
Simona Gueglio-Saccone (Stella)
Donovan Marquis Diaz (Ruben)
Brian King (David)
Alana De Sá (understudy Clara)
Richard Esteras (understudy Papi)
David F. Meldman (understudy David)
Soli Santos (understudy Vega/Chava)
Joshua David Thomas (understudy Ruben)
CREATIVE
Sandra Delgado (Playwright)
Kimberly Senior (Director)
Regina Garcia (Scenic Designer)
Mieka van der Ploeg (Costume Designer)
Christine A. Binder (Lighting Designer)
Willow James (Sound Designer)
Nicolas Bartleson (Properties Designer)
Eme Ospina-López (Projections Designer)
Raquel Torre (Choreographer)
Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel (Dramaturg)
Dina Spoerl (Dramaturgical Display Designer)
Isabel Patt (Stage Manager)
Natalie Friedman (Assistant Director)
Nora Brooks (Co-Assistant Scenic Designer)
Lindsay Mummert (Co-Assistant Scenic Designer)
Kate Nagorski (Assistant Stage Manager)
Megan E. Pirtle (Assistant Costume Designer)
Ellie Fey (Assistant Lighting Designer)
Anna Rogelio Joaquin (Assistant Dramaturg)
Josh Munden (Scenic Supervisor)
Jessica Kuehnau Wardell (Scenic Change Artist)
Nicole Hankins (Associate Scenic Supervisor)
José Alexander (Associate Scenic Change Artist)
Shannon Evans (Associate Scenic Change Artist)
Lucy Elkin (Costume Supervisor)
Mark Brown (Lighting Supervisor)
Forrest Gregor (Projections Supervisor)
Maddie Curtin (Young Performer Supervisor)
Caridá cira Diaz (Wardrobe Run Crew)