ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — When Alex McDonald Villarreal first started writing his autobiographical play, “Ethnically Ambiguous,” he did not expect it to garner so much attention — or even to become a standalone piece. Now, the award-winning solo show is returning to Asheville for performances at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts.
“I just wrote it as a placeholder,” the playwright admits.
Villarreal wrote the first version of the play in 2024 as an entry for 369, an annual short-play and monologue festival produced by Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective. The company’s frontwoman, Stephanie Hickling Beckman, asked Villarreal to contribute a piece after hearing some of his stories during talkbacks following the company’s productions.
“Steph said, ‘Instead of doing one of these other pieces, why don’t you write your own?’” Villarreal recalls.
So he did.
From childhood stories to a full-length show
Villarreal wrote “Ethnically Ambiguous” as a collection of stories from his childhood, growing up as a mixed-race theater kid in Dallas in the 1990s. As he wrote, he also researched his family lineage, discovering that his family had lived in America for more than 400 years, before the United States was founded.
“Everyone has stories they tell about their life, so I just started writing those out,” Villarreal says of his writing process. “Then, I thought, ‘Well, how do those stories connect with an overarching [point of] what it means to be mixed, what it means to be American, what it means to be Mexican?’”
Once Villarreal began delving more deeply into the piece, it expanded beyond his upbringing to explore his identity and the ways others view him.
He was shocked to receive a standing ovation the first time he performed the original 45-minute version of the show before an audience. He recalls people approaching him afterward to share that they had experienced similar moments during childhood.
“There’s lots of different things about growing up in America that people are able to relate to,” he says of the show. “Universal feelings of family abound. I think everybody in some way is shaped by their family.”
After performing the show at 369, Villarreal knew “Ethnically Ambiguous” was far more than filler. It was something he could continue to grow, develop and be proud of.
He received a grant from the Haywood County Arts Council to do just that and was asked to produce a full-length version for HART in Waynesville last March.
According to Villarreal, expanding the piece proved more difficult than writing it in the first place.
“Just getting up there and talking about it was the easy part,” he says. “The hard part was giving it shape.”
Building the production
To prepare the production, Villarreal called on two of his closest friends and the best theatermakers he knows: Elizabeth DeVault, the show’s director, and Dakota Mann, the stage manager.
He also added props and a professionally made backdrop.
HART audiences enjoyed “Ethnically Ambiguous” so much that it was picked up for the theater’s studio season. The production later received the BroadwayWorld Charlotte Region award for Best Solo Performance for 2025.
From a placeholder to a recounting of his family history and an expression of his soul, Villarreal says “Ethnically Ambiguous” has always been a love letter to his mother at its core.
He says he realized during the show’s first run that his connection to his mother was the overall arc of the play. It was not just his story, but also hers — a story about her sacrifices and unwavering support as he chased his dream of becoming an actor.
Villarreal says it was amazing to finally perform the show for both his mother and grandmother at HART last year.
Bringing “Ethnically Ambiguous” back to Asheville
This August, the award-winning “Ethnically Ambiguous” will be performed in its entirety at the Tina McGuire Theatre at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Asheville, where the show made its debut two years ago.
“It’s grown; it’s a full show. Now, we’re bringing it home to Different Strokes!” Villarreal says.
While Villarreal hopes audiences leave with a better understanding of what it means to be mixed-race in America today, he believes the show offers something that will resonate with people from many backgrounds.
“It’s a ride, and it’s fun,” he says. “It’ll make you laugh. There’s things that might make you cry, things that might make you want to reach out to your family and talk to them.”
Event details
What: “Ethnically Ambiguous,” written and performed by Alex McDonald Villarreal
When: Aug. 14-23, 2026
Performance times: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 14-22 and 3 p.m. Aug. 23
Where: Tina McGuire Theatre at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts
Address: 18 Biltmore Ave., Asheville, NC 28801
Tickets: Available through the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts