KC Rep’s One of the Good Ones brings urgent humor to a timely Latine story

One of the Good Ones poster // Courtesy of KC Repertory Theatre

There’s no drama quite like family dinner table drama. Especially with the pressure of throwing a new significant other—who everyone may or may not like and perhaps reveals the best and/or worst of all involved—into the mix. 

One of the Good Ones is a comedy play that follows this quandary through Yoli, the “perfect” Latina daughter who brings her boyfriend home for the first time and puts her family to the test. It’s written by Gloria Calderón Kellett, who might be a familiar name from the Netflix series One Day at a Time. 

As part of a regional premiere, the Kansas Repertory Theatre takes this show to the Copaken Stage from Feb. 27 to Mar. 8. It’s directed by Laura Alcalá Baker, and tickets are already on sale. 

New York-based actor Isabella Campos takes the lead as Yoli, drawing inspiration from her roots in South Texas as a first-generation Mexican American. Though it’s Campos’ first time in Kansas City, she’s worked under Baker’s direction before—a relationship that has, in part, reflected what Campos describes as a community formed from a lack of opportunities for Latines in the industry. 

“So when you are in the community,” Campos says, “everyone knows each other, and you end up working with the same cohort of people. Every time I go to a callback, there are always the same four other Latinas there. You sort of build community just because there are so few Latino plays getting produced.” 

Isabella Campos stars as Yoli // Courtesy of KC Repertory Theatre

From that, Baker’s projects—and One of the Good Ones—were on Campos’ radar. She explains that what particularly drew her to the show and resonates is how Kellet’s treatment of Latine stereotypes takes the show’s cultural and familial themes to a deeper level. 

The machismo dad. The whimsically airy Latina mom. And the recent college graduate who thinks she knows everything with pure conviction: “Yoli’s super Gen Z and uses therapy talk. Then, there’s the boyfriend, but I don’t want to give too much away,” Campos says. 

The show is structured as a big, no-break conversation over salad and wine. Its lively exploration of complicated cultural identities through an insider perspective—down to the specifics of colorism and intergenerational timelines—makes it one to catch. 

“Let’s be real,” Campos says, “Latinos, we’re genuinely funny people. We grow up with humor in our households, and that’s our biggest anchor to life.” 

At such a fraught time for immigrant and Latine communities, perhaps that humor can be an anchoring thing for whoever fills the seats. As Campos explains that everyone in the audience can find something to identify with, she mentions that the stakes of this story are timely as ever.

“What does it mean to be Latino? What does it mean to be American? Who gets ownership of identity?” Campos says. “Being Latino or Latina in America right now is so scary. If we lift the veil on who we are and how we’re diverse and how beautiful we are, I hope we’re doing the community a service.”