Roxana Ortega (Photo by Jeff Lorch)
Reviewed by Martίn Hernández
Geffen Playhouse
Through October 5
RECOMMENDED
“I needed it to go well,” is the anxious lament of actor/writer Roxana “Roxie” Ortega as she depicts a night at the opera with her mother Carmen. Adamant that her mom is not crazy, Roxie nonetheless fears that Carmen may rise from her seat and heap insults at the “Carmen” on stage. But before that happens, Roxie abruptly pauses the witty intro to her story and rewinds back six years. She then begins her amusing and poignant one-person tale about becoming the reluctant caretaker of a woman whose memory may be fading but whose spirit never flags.
The last thing that single and childless L.A. based actor Roxie needs is responsibility for another person, something she has succeeded in avoiding for her thirty-something years. However, since she is the one who is single and childless, Roxie finds herself in charge of her widowed mother instead of her siblings or an amalgam of aunts. At first Roxie does her best; she recalls that Carmen always encouraged her flights of childhood fancy and dreams of becoming an actor. This could be a way to reciprocate.
But eventually, the task becomes too much for Roxie and she faces is forced to consider the worst option for a Latina caring for an aging parent: putting Carmen in a home! The guilt is palpable, so Roxie seeks advice from sundry sources. A trifecta of tias provides their niece with conflicting and comical counsel. Then there’s Oona, a perceptive New Age healer/real estate agent, whose therapy sessions are peppered with calls from homebuyers and always ends with her favorite mantra, “Do you want me to charge your card on file?”
Ortega is a comic chameleon, portraying a gamut of diverse characters under Bernard Cubria’s erudite direction. Roxie’s Inner Latina Critic sinuously prowls the stage like a “Zoot Suit” pachuca, chastising the outer Roxie for her selfishness. Pia is a home care manager with a predilection for liposuction, cosmetic surgery, and Botox. Carmen is grows childlike as her mind falters — she asks “Who died?” at her husband’s funeral. As that faltering intensifies, she gets aggressive and takes it out on a hapless Roxie.
Some references — to Psycho and The Lion King, for example — are repeated too often and become tedious. Other scenes are revelatory and touching, such as Roxie’s overseas odyssey of self-discovery — she travels to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro — or when she reveals her bleakest fears to Oona about Carmen and herself. Others are hilarious, such as Roxie’s attempt at Carmen’s personal grooming and her stilted amorous encounters.
Also moving is Roxie’s discovery of a plethora of cryptic notes Carmen scribbled to herself that reveal the extent of her mental decline. That moment deepens when scenic designer Efren Delgadillo, Jr.’s oversized hanging notes, photos, and paper clips descend on the stage. Yuki Izumihara’s projections also aid in depicting Roxie’s and Carmen’s inner workings throughout the piece.
Ortega’s love letter to Carmen is also one to herself as Roxie confronts her faults and discovers the inner strength to begin to overcome them. By the finale, Roxie has gleaned that she is her mother’s daughter — and symbolically vice versa — and that their expedition together was just as cathartic for her mother as it was for her.
The Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles; Wed.-Thurs., 7:30 pm; Fri., 8 pm; Sat., 3 & 8 pm; Sun. 2 pm.; Spanish-captioned perf: Fri., September 26 & Sun., October 5. www.geffenplayhouse.org Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission
