There is too much noise on the set of Victor I. Cazares’s “american (tele)visions” currently running at New York Theatre Workshop (co-produced with Theatre Mitu). Although that noise comes from what is certainly a dynamic and innovative set design by Bretta Gerecke and a clever technical design by Theatre Mitu’s Justin Nestor, Alex Hawthorn, and Kelly Colburn, it unfortunately masks the importance of Victor I. Cazares’s compelling narrative about a family of “illegal immigrants” who get swept up in America’s consumer-driven matrix on their journey to citizenship.

Octavio (Raúl Castillo) is the first to arrive in the United States from his home in Mexico. Nine months later he has saved enough money to hire coyotes to bring his whole family up from Mexico: His wife Maria Ximena (Elia Monte-Brown), his son Alejandro (Clew), and Alejandro’s younger sister Erica (Bianca Norwood). The narrative in “American (tele)visions” takes place ten or maybe eleven years after the family is together. Octavio now works at a factory “soldering sheets of metal to make a manufactured home.” Alejandro worked at the same factory but died in the hospital after a fall at work. Alejandro, now dead, appears on stage in giant projections. Maria, unhappy with her marriage, spends most of her time in Henry’s truck neatly equipped with satellite television. Erica narrates the Latinx family’s past, present, and future.

There is much in that narrative that is important. There are themes to be explored. There are foundational issues to be parsed. Octavio is unhappy at work and immerses himself in television (he might be a TV). Maria’s unhappiness results in “unfaithfulness” and neglect of her family. Their son Alejandro was gay and had a relationship with his co-worker Jesse (also played by Clew). Octavio is not comfortable with Alejandro’s sexual status. Erica is non-binary and doesn’t like wearing dresses. Their neighbor Jeremy (Ryan J. Haddad) is also gay and likes Barbie Dolls. And they all love and often shop at Walmart.

A Latinx family’s struggle to achieve citizenship; LGBTQ+ and gender issues; homophobia; xenophobia; nuclear family dysfunction; dangers in the workplace; and unbridled consumerism. These are significant issues that raise many rich and enduring questions. Unfortunately, these matters are shrouded in the play’s techno-heavy staging and (for this critic) far too many stereotypes of the Latinx culture.

Ryan J. Haddad directs a cast that does its best to make sense of “American (tele)visions.” Sadly, the result is pretentious and leaves the audience needing to know much more about how Octavio, Alejandro, Maria, Erica, Jesse, and Jeremy got terribly lost in the aisles of their favorite Walmart.