José Martínez and Sergio Dávila (Photo by Grettel Cortes Photography)
Reviewed by Madison Mellon
Latino Theater Company and Teatro Alebrijes
Through May 24
RECOMMENDED
Carolina Pérez, Ricardo Cortés, José Martínez, Sergio Dávila, Adrian Campos, Ugho Badú (Photo by Grettel Cortes Photography)
Rodrigo García and Ugho Badú’s Carlota: Alhajero de Secretos, a reimagining of The House of Bernarda Alba, arrives as a striking and thoughtful adaptation. Produced by Latino Theater Company in collaboration with Teatro Alebrijes, an LGBT+ Latine theatre company, Carlota reframes Lorca’s classic through a unique and contemporary lens while preserving the original’s core tensions of repression and desire. The play follows the domineering matriarch Carlota and her daughters, who are confined within the walls of their home as grief, longing, and resentment simmer towards their boiling point.
What immediately distinguishes this production is its casting: Carlota, her daughters, and the other primary characters are played by male actors. Meanwhile the housekeepers, Prudencia (Carolina Perez) and Consuelo (Yatzil Ruiz), are portrayed by women. It’s a choice that may initially give pause, but it reveals its purpose with increasing clarity. Lines suggesting that Carlota might be perceived differently had she been born a man take on new layers, while the presence of women as the observant, truth-telling servants sharpens the play’s commentary on power and class. Rather than feeling like a conceptual gimmick, the casting deepens the text’s interrogation of gender roles and societal expectations.
The ensemble is uniformly strong, delivering performances that are nuanced, grounded, and emotionally resonant. Sergio Davila commands the stage as Carlota, balancing authority with a slow, ultimately heartbreaking unraveling. Carolina Perez’s Prudencia offers moments of warmth and humor, her wit cutting through the household’s suffocating rigidity. As the daughters (Mari Tere, Mari Fer, and Mari Pepa), Ugho Badú, Janvier Berber-Acosta, and Adrian Campos Arenas navigate moments of comedic telenovela-esque melodrama without losing the characters’ sincere yearning for autonomy and freedom.
Leigh Henderson’s set design is simple but effective, creating an evocative sense of the family’s imposing home while allowing for fluid transitions that sustain the production’s pace and mounting tension. The direction by Rodrigo García allows for plenty of moments of levity that permit the clever dialogue to shine without undermining the ultimate emotional impact of the piece. The placement of supertitles high above the stage does occasionally divide attention between text and performance. Even so, the richness of the language and the clarity of the actors’ performances help bridge that gap.
Carlota is a thoughtful and cohesive reinterpretation that trusts both its source material and its audience. The production’s choices make the piece feel fresh and accessible without sacrificing the tragedy and resonance of Lorca’s work.
The Los Angeles Theater Center, 514 S. Spring St., Downtown LA. Thurs.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 2 pm; thru May 24. latinotheaterco.org 80 minutes with an intermission
