Cienfuegos

Past U.S.-Mexico crises — such as the 2020 arrest of former Mexican Defense Secretary Salvador Cienfuegos at Los Angeles International Airport — resulted in Mexico curtailing access for U.S. anti-drug agents.

In the Cienfuegos case, the Trump White House, facing a furious reaction from then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, relented: Washington dropped federal drug-smuggling charges against the retired general and allowed him to return to Mexico, where he was later decorated by the president.

The play, directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos, also stars Shiloh Fernandez.

Guillermo Cienfuegos, who directed Rogue Machine’s superb production of “Heroes of the Fourth Turning,” leans into the strangeness of “Evanston” without losing sight of the delicate amiability that marks the characters’ twisted behavior.

Security cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico diminished greatly during the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who accused U.S. forces of “abusive meddling” in 2020 when the former Mexican defense secretary, Salvador Cienfuegos, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on suspicion of drug trafficking.