Mark-Eugene Garcia Invokes Gay Latine Mystery

by Kheven Lee LaGrone

Mark-Eugene Garcia’s “Goat Blood” sneaks up on us like a slowly boiling pot of water.  His play starts with a simmer, like many a race play. Then “Goat Blood” heats up and takes some surprising twists until it comes to a boil with the threatening, ghostly Chupacabra. But what is a Chupacabra?

JT Presents and Theatre Rhinoceros have imported a Latine queer psycho-horror-comedy. They have produced a precious gem. Director Alejandro Emmanuel Torres really heats up the stage with every twist of the story. The actors are passionate and committed.

Set in Riverside, California in 2010 (with flashbacks to 1998), “Goat Blood” opens with co-workers Pablo (Eric Esquivel-Gutierrez) and Owen (Casey Spiegel) sitting in the back of a pick-up truck in a field at night. Pablo, Mexican American, and Owen, white American, are enjoying cannabis edibles while they wait for two women. The women stand them up. Surprisingly, they are not disappointed.

Their connection simmers as they casually gossip about topics like work, ethnic heritage, and U.S. colonialism. When they hear spooky sounds in the night, Pablo tells Owen about the Chupacabra, the goat blood-sucking monster from Latine lore. Pablo claims the monster killed his younger brother years ago. The Chupacabra is to be feared.

In a surprising twist, sexual tension builds between the two coworkers. The men are not comfortable in their skins. They hide behind machismo to justify playing a sex game. They claim not to be gay; yet they just cannot turn down a “gay” dare.

In another surprising twist, Pablo heats up the play when he takes off his clothes. He reveals a beautiful body and transforms into a male “sex siren.”  He seduces Owen, leading to the play’s steamiest scene.

Pablo and Owen run and hide from the Chupacabra (Creature Creation by Raye Goh), but it chases them, banging and growling. Why is it so persistent? What does the monster want?

Through flashbacks, Pablo meets the reclusive Mr. Sanchez (convincing Adrian Nava), who best knows the Chupacabra. Nava brings believable testimony about the marauding monster which he sees every day. The monster drains him. But what does it mean?

“Goat Blood” comes to a full boil when the Chupacabra dramatically appears. A final twist solves the mystery of what the Chupacabra is and why it threatens Pablo and Owen. You’ll have to see the show to find out the startling secret.

 

“Goat Blood” by Mark-Eugene Garcia, directed by Alejandro Emmanuel Torres, costumes by Adriana Gutierrez, lighting by Colin Johnson, video & projections by Colin H. Johnson, sound by Wesley Murphy, scenic design by Noah Rojas-Domke, stage manager Raphael Buenaventura, by JT Presents & Theatre Rhinoceros, at 4229 -18th Street, San Francisco.

Info: therhino.org – to July 19, 2026.

Cast: Eric Esquivel-Gutierrez, Raye Goh, Adrian Nava, and Casey Spiegel.

Banner photo: Casey Spiegel & Eric Esquivel-Gutierrez. Photos: Scott Sidorsky