Now playing at a theater near you: the story of an American family. Granted, it's probably not your typical American family, since perhaps it's not the norm to have as much drama and dark secrets. Still, when it comes to representing America the diverse, the Flores family do a pretty good job.

"Lydia," a new play by the acclaimed Octavio Solis, is the story of an alcoholic and abusive father, a talkative and subservient mother, and their three children -- a gay basher, a Lord Byron wannabe, and a severely impaired young woman who is only understood by the family's undocumented maid.

If it sounds a lot like a telenovela, well, it's because to a certain extent all family dramas are like soap operas. Siblings fight and make up, fathers disown their daughters, mothers look the other way with regard to their children's shortcomings. All the world is a stage.

What's remarkable about "Lydia" -- besides the superb acting -- is its elevation of a Latino family to the category of simply "an American family." An American family that happens to speak Spanglish, listen to Pedro Infante, and celebrate quinceañeras as a right of passage.

It is hard to understate the importance of this production: just a few days ago, commentators Michelle Garcia and Julissa Reynoso were bemoaning the fact that, as long as Latinos are equated with immigrants, we cannot claim citizenship.

While I don't entirely agree with their observations, I can see where the writers are coming from; It's difficult to feel there's a place in society when our experiences are either ignored in the mass media or grossly misrepresented. The biggest story out there about Latinos is immigration, and when other stories are told, they're usually about maids or Columbian drug smugglers. This is true of most forms of popular culture, be it film, television, and to a certain extent, theater.

Last Friday, at a Q&A with the cast after the performance of "Lydia", an audience member told Octavio Solis that the play made her feel that Latinos have finally arrived.

"We haven't had anything this important since Zoot Suit," said Diane Rodriguez, associate producer and director of new play production fro Center Theatre Group. "We've taken a leap in craft."

That's a long time. Zoot Suit, the acclaimed play by Luis Valdez, premiered at the Mark Taper Forum in 1978 and has since become a classic of Latino theater. It depicts the story of Henry Leyvas, an East L.A. resident wrongly accused of murdering a rival gang member against the back drop of World War II. Like the play, the film version was directed by Luis Valdez and starred Edward James Olmos as "El Pachuco."

"Lydia" premiered at the Denver Center Theatre Company last year, and has since been performed at Yale Repertory Theatre and Marin Theatre Company. Although it has received high marks, it's also shocked and even repelled some theatergoers. Just look at the comments section on the L.A. Times review of the play.

I'm no theater critic, so I won't say what I think of the play -- I already mentioned the acting is superb. But as a work of art representing the Latino experience in the United States, placing a Latino family as an American family, Lydia is perhaps as important to theater as "The Sopranos" was to television. With "The Sopranos," we were shocked and gripped and riveted, but most importantly, we were made to feel that their story was an American story. With "Lydia," we experience a border family that collects S&H Green Stamps, waits for the draft to take their young males during the Vietnam War, and has to constantly pick up beer pull tabs. It's as American as pizza and wet burritos.

Only time will tell if "Lydia" and the Flores family become as iconic of the Latino experience as "Zoot Suit" has. But if you want to say you were present at the creation, check out the play at the Mark Taper Forum. It will run until May 17.