Escobar's Hippo Tackles Government Issues with Humor

By Thomas Palatinus        

        On Friday, February 14th, the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University had a very successful opening night with the debut of the first play of the 2025 Spring semester, Escobar's Hippo, by Franky D. Gonzalez and directed by Alejandra Luna at Westhoff Theatre. With main characters so unique and secondary characters that helped with comedic value, the experience at the play was ultimately a very funny one. Underneath the comedy however, there were themes such as government failures, dictatorships, and desires of human nature. 

Sign outside of Westhoff Theater

        Before we dive into the themes and meanings from the play, we will first talk about the overall reception from the audience after the play concluded. As it was opening night, the excitement levels were at an all-time high, as nobody had seen the performance before. When the play concluded, the audience gave a standing ovation towards the actors and crew for putting on such an incredible performance. I managed to sit down and ask a member of the audience, Mason Barrett, about his first reactions after viewing the play. "It's pretty great. Super funny and pretty thought provoking too." It seems that many other viewers had a similar reaction too, as it was all smiles and laughter leaving the theater. 

        I had the chance to sit down and interview the director of the play, Alejandra Luna, and asked her some questions about the play. I first wanted to ask her about the central themes of the play and how she went about approaching such a unique and tricky topic. "I actually met with the playwright, Franky D. Gonzalez, and I was like, 'Hey man, can we talk?'". In our conversation, she went into detail about her 2-hour long conversation with Mr. Gonzalez and how he was able to help further develop her interpretations of the themes and to help not shy away from the comedic aspects so the message of it all could sneak through to the audience. 

The set of "Escobar's Hippo" inside Westhoff Theater

        In the play, there were many characters called, "Towns people" that acted as the government throughout the story. Much of the comedy was derived from these characters acting like headless chickens, and not making either good decisions, or any decisions at all. During my conversation with Alejandra, I asked her about how those scenes resonated with current issues that our government has faced these past few months. "I did want to approach it at the same time from the point of view that whatever may or may not be happening within our own government is not uncommon and is not something that hasn't happened throughout history all over the world". She continued on to talk about how she believed that it would be more effective to highlight through the play that governments that haven't always put the people first has happened not just within our own country, but in others too, such as Columbia, where the play takes place. Alejandra also talked about a particular scene in the play, when the characters discussed human nature as a wheel, where events continue to happen again and again, unless humanity steps in to address problems that they face, whether that be bad government bodies or like in the play, hippos taking over the world. 

     

        As we were nearing the end of our conversation, I wanted to ask the big question, what was the message that you wanted to leave with the audience? After all, the play involved humans turning into hippos to take over the world, what could be an important message from that? Alejandra said, "What I want people to walk away from this is recognizing the hippos within themselves and within their immediate surroundings". She continued on to talk about the hippos acting as symbolism for corruption. When humans would turn into hippos in the play, it was meaning that they abandoned their humanity and became horrible to one another because it seemed an easier road to follow than to struggle on the right path to be free and happy. 

       

        After that final question, my interview with Alejandra Luna came to a close. The message that the play left seemed to resonate with the audience in that to never abandon who you are for the easy road ahead. The play was memorable due to the incredible performance from the entire cast and crew who worked tirelessly to try and perfect each and every scene, and to help put a smile on people's faces during these cold nights. Escobar's Hippo continues to run from February 20th until February 22nd at 7:30pm at Westhoff Theater, and you can get your tickets from the Illinois State University's School of Theater and Dance website. 

The Red Bird Sound Society at Illinois State University

The Sports Marketing Student Association at Illinois State University

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The Screenwriter's Guild at Illinois State University

Trump's Immigration Policies: Decisions and Impacts

By Thomas Palatinus

        April 29th, 2025, marks President Donald Trump's 100th day back in the oval office during his 2nd term. Since his inauguration on January 20th, 2025, he has wasted no time advancing his immigration agenda to combat illegal citizens crossing into the country through the U.S.-Mexico border. Sending American troops to the southern border, controversially invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, and deporting students who held legal status as citizens are only some of the decisions made so far by President Trump during his 2nd term. 

        According to CBS News, as of April 16th, over 7,000 Marines and Army soldiers are currently stationed at the southern border, helping reinforce Border Patrol agents already stationed there. The decision to send troops to prevent illegal citizens crossing into the U.S. was a result of Trump declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border, stating that America was under attack by an invasion of illegal immigrants who are drug dealers, gang members, and people who wish to harm Americans. This decision to deploy troops to the border has made it extremely difficult for people to cross illegal, as according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, some days in 2023, under Joe Biden's Presidency, upwards of 10,000 people crossed illegally, while throughout the entire month of March in 2025, there were only about 7,200 illegal border crossings. 

        During the month of March, President Trump controversially invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, targeting members of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. According to the National Public Radio (NPR), 137 Venezuelans were deported under the act and were sent to El Salvador's CECOT megaprison. This decision has sparked massive controversy, as some of those who have been deported are not confirmed as members of the gang but simply have tattoos which are similar to those worn by the Tren de Aragua gang. This has also sparked debate whether or not the act should be used to deport anyone, as the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 is only supposed to be used in time of warfare, and many Democratic members and states believe that the usage of it against the Tren de Aragua gang is an extreme exaggeration of the definition of warfare, which is typically defined as military operations between two nations or groups. 

        One of the more recent controversies revolving around immigration and Trump, is the administration attempting to deport students due to their pro-Palestinian views, even though they have a green card to study in the United States. According to NPR, on March 8th of this year, Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born graduate student was arrested by ICE agents due to his involvement in protests on Columbia University's campus in 2024. The decision to arrest him has sparked country-wide debate on free speech rights in the United States, as this arrest is not the final one that will be made in regard to last year's protests on college campuses. Following the arrest, the Trump administration has begun revoking visas for hundreds of students all around the country who speak out against Isreal's war against Hamas.

        While there are many more decisions that President Trump has made within his first 100 days back in office in regard to immigration that sparked controversy, these three have been some of the most impactful. Illegal immigrants within the United States have been a large problem for many years in the United States, and the more secure the border has become is helping keep our country safer. The deportation of dangerous criminals that are not from the United States, nor have citizenship, improves the safety of communities within the United States. Unfortunately, even though the decision to deports criminals is a great one, mistakes can happen where someone is deported, even though they are not a part of a criminal organization. These mistakes are costly, and the government needs to be held accountable for these instances where innocent people are punished for crimes they never committed. There are some decisions, such as the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, that are unjust since even though some people may disagree with decisions made by the United States, it is their right to have freedom of speech and the ability to peacefully protest. 

        As we continue past the first 100 days of President Donald Trump's 2nd term in the oval office, there have been many decisions, whether positive or negative, that have sparked extreme controversy. Our government needs to be more accountable in the mistakes they make when dealing with illegal immigrants either attempting to enter our country or already being in our country. It is important to remember, that no matter what, we as Americans must stick together in these difficult and troubling times, and hope that in the end, the United States continues to be prosperous.