Question

GABRIELA: (Irritated) Carolina, time to get the laundry from downstairs! Angel, the trash doesn’t have legs. Both of you, get to it. (ANGEL and CAROLINA ignore her.) Niños!

(Enter MILTON. ANGEL and CAROLINA give him hugs.)

ANGEL: (Breaking away) Want to see my karate? (ANGEL kicks in the air.)

MILTON: That’s great, but you kids do your chores, and RIGHT NOW. (ANGEL grabs a garbage bag, CAROLINA picks up a laundry basket, and they exit.)

GABRIELA: Why do they obey you and ignore me like a dead bug?

MILTON: (Shrugging and smiling) I’m bigger than you. How was school today?

GABRIELA: I’m terrible at this English language! The teacher asked me why Jackie Kennedy, former President Kennedy's wife, was eloquent. I thought that “eloquent” meant that she is stylish, not that she speaks well. Everybody laughed at my answer.

MILTON: We all make mistakes. You’ll get it soon enough.

(CAROLINA and ANGEL reenter, screaming and running.)

GABRIELA: Papi and Mami will be home in a few minutes, and someone’s gonna be in BIG TROUBLE if they’re still messing around.

CAROLINA, ANGEL: OOOOOKKKKAAAAYYYY. (They get their backpacks and begin working.)

(Enter ALFREDO and ANA, surrounded in clouds of doom and gloom. ANGEL and CAROLINA squeal with delight and hug their mother. ANA puts down a large carrying bag and sinks into the sofa.)

ANA: (To GABRIELA) The beans smell delicious, but turn off the stove for now. Your Papi has something to say to you all.

(They all gather around the parents, but ALFREDO frowns and pauses.)

MILTON: What, Papi? Come out and say it.

ALFREDO: (Sighing) Our dream of owning a restaurant—Café Ana—is finished.

EVERYONE: NNNOOOO!

GABRIELA: Why not?

ALFREDO: It’s just too much. Today I got laid off from my job at the construction company.

GABRIELA: Oh, Papi!

ALFREDO: The rent for the restaurant is going up next month, and I got the bill for a food license for $1,000. Plus, the cost of the grilling equipment and furniture is sky high. We just don’t have the money.

MILTON: So these are just problems. We can’t quit, Papi. You were the best cocinero principal in Juticalpa—maybe in all Honduras.

GABRIELA: You make the best pastelito, and families would travel across the city to taste your pork roast.

ALFREDO: (Softening) You’re good hijos, but let’s get to the point. (He pauses.) If Café Ana opens, we might lose all of our savings. Then how will you both go to college?

MILTON: I say we tackle one dream at a time. First the restaurant, and next, college.

ALFREDO: Dreams don’t always come true. When you grow up, you will learn this.

MILTON: I won’t learn that from you, Papi. You taught me that a dream is something that requires hard work, patience, sweat, and determination.

GABRIELA: You also said that we Hondurans need a restaurant where we can socialize and eat food from our country. (Forcefully) It would be selfish not to do it.

ALFREDO: (Smiling) These hijos, they use my words to torment me.

ANGEL: (Hopping in his lap and tickling him) We love to torment you, Papi!

MILTON: Mira, I can get a part-time job on weekends.

GABRIELA: (Brightening) And I don’t have to have a quinceañera. That would save us a lot of money!

ALFREDO: (Sternly) You will have your party, Gabi—a young girl cannot become a young lady without it.

ANA: (Dreamily) I do miss the restaurant, and Papi, you were happy when you were cooking. I remember.

MILTON: If we give up now, Mami will be working for someone else the rest of her life, and you, Papi, you’ll always be in danger of losing another job. Let us all help out.

ANA: We could have the quinceañera at tío Rico’s house. And if Gabi doesn’t mind borrowing a dress…

ALFREDO: I don’t think you understand. The boss told me not to come in to work on Monday. The money we have won’t last.

MILTON: Papi, you don’t need a job now. You need to put all your energy into Café Ana, a slice of Honduras heaven here in Washington, D.C.

ANA: I can get a second job until we open the restaurant. (To ALFREDO) Okay?

CAROLINA, ANGEL: (Chanting) Please, Papi? Please Papi!

ALFREDO: I’ll think about it.

(CAROLINA and ANGEL jump up and down in excitement.)

ANGEL: YEAAAHHH!

ALFREDO: I said I’d think about it. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Until then, NOT A WORD.

How do the italicized stage directions contribute to the text as a whole?


They give the audience an idea of how each character reacts to the idea of Alfredo and Ana opening a new café.


They convey the emotions of the characters to the audience by showing how they react to events and to other characters.


They show the audience how each character reacts to the news that Alfredo has lost his construction job.


They show how the younger children are very active and excited about having finished school for the day.

Answer 1

They convey the emotions of the characters to the audience by showing how they react to events and to other characters.