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Actor-playwrights Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson clearly have a knack for riffing off each other. “Doing Mexodus feels like doing a shot of Malört,” Quijada quips. “It’s tough to go down,” agrees Robinson. “But,” Quijada quickly parries, “you feel right at home once you do it.”
They’re talking about how their live-looping hip-hop musical addresses the difficult topic of slavery in a decidedly current way. Most Americans know about the Underground Railroad, but thousands of enslaved people also fled the antebellum South for Mexico, which abolished slavery in 1829. This lesser-known history takes the spotlight in the two-man show, which grapples with its heavy subject matter while emphasizing allyship and liberation. Written by and starring Quijada and Robinson, Mexodus gets its Chicago premiere at the Fine Arts Building’s Studebaker Theater, in collaboration with Teatro Vista Productions.
Quijada and Robinson, who both lived here before moving to New York City, consider this Chicago run a homecoming — not just for them but also for the show. It was seen in development in 2021 at Victory Gardens Theater and later at Northwestern’s Wirtz Center. Since 2024, the fully staged version has played six cities, including two off-Broadway runs, to much acclaim. A Highland Park native, Quijada, 37, launched his career writing and starring in Jeff Award–winning shows for Teatro Vista. (He and his brother, Marvin, are currently under commission with the Goodman.) Robinson, 33, hails from North Carolina but lived in Chicago from 2022 to 2025, lured in part by the theater scene.
While Quijada’s earlier works drew on immigration stories, including his mother’s journey from El Salvador, he knew that Mexodus would require a Black American perspective. When he met Robinson in 2020, the two clicked. Though rooted in hip-hop, their score also blends elements of gospel, bolero, and reggaetón. “Finding Nygel as a collaborator has been amazing, because in the Venn diagram of our influences, hip-hop is smack-dab in the middle,” says Quijada. “We love nerding out on music, and this play is a beautiful mix between the two of us and our cultures.”
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Mexodus runs November 6 to 21 at the Studebaker Theater.
Emily McClanathan is a freelance writer for Chicago magazine.
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