Veronica Osorio (Photo by J. L. Ducker)
Reviewed by Deborah Klugman
LGBT Center at the Hollywood Fringe
Through June 30
RECOMMENDED
Veronica Osorio bills Medicine Woman, her one-woman show now at the Hollywood Fringe, as sexy, sassy, and shamanic. As a skeptic, I’m on the fence about the shamanic part, but I can vouch for the sexy and sassy. (And, come to think of it, if you interpret shamanic as someone or something that heals, one could buy into that descriptive of the show as well, because laughter is the best medicine, right?) A self-proclaimed clown, Osorio delivers an exuberant, entertaining performance, one that celebrates the erotic, the sensual and the human comedy in all its silliness, and all in a brief one-hour package.
Getting the audience under her sway is part and parcel of Osorio’s charm, and the show begins with the distribution of noisemakers at the door, which are used at various shamanic or celebratory intervals of the show. That sounds corny, and not everyone participates (I loftily declined), but it seems to work, as Osorio takes the audience through a series of exercises to rid members of the “bad” energy and recharge them with the new.
At some point Osorio, who speaks seductively sotto voce, discards the pretty folklorian dress (white frilly blouse, white ankle length skirt) for more contemporary garb, and the show grows bawdier (than it had been!). Throughout, she engages various members of the audience in her riffs; at one point she and a spectator, who turned out to be a terrific dancer, jitterbug about the stage. Toward the end, she peeks ever so slightly from behind the veil of her clown persona to share her experience as an artist and an immigrant to the States — a drop of sad, bitter wisdom amid the laughter.
Every show is a two-way improvisation that takes into account the sensibility and proclivities of the audience. The pace, the theatrics and the magic are underscored by Marcel Rasquin’s spirited percussion.
Osorio is co-directed by Elias Munoz and Natasha Mercado. I can’t speak for what happens at other performances, but at the one I attended, everyone, including myself, fell under her spell.
Los Angeles LGBT Center, 1118 N McCadden Pl., Hollywood. Remaining performances: Wed., June 26, 9:30 pm, Thurs., June 27, 9:15 pm, Sun., June 30, 7: 30 pm. https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/10525. Running time: approximately an hour.
