Desert Stories for Lost Girls
Reviewed by Terry Morgan
Native Voices at the Autry and Latino Theater Company
Through October 16
When I was reading the press material for Lily Rushing’s Desert Stories for Lost Girls, I encountered the term genízaro for the first time. One definition of the word I discovered online defines it as: “…detribalized Native Americans, through war or payment of ransom, [who] were taken into Hispano and Puebloan villages as indentured servants in New Mexico, southern Colorado and other parts of the southwestern United States.” I was unaware of this history, and so was intrigued to see a play about the subject. Unfortunately, this world premiere production by Native Voices at the Autry and Latino Theater Company suffers from Rushing’s unclear writing, which works neither as education nor effective drama.
Eighteen-year-old Carrie (Katie Anvil Rich) moves in to help care for her grandmother Rosa (Carolyn Dunn), having no idea how this will affect her life. Her uncle, Edgar (Tom Allard), has told her what medicines to give her and not to pay attention to Rosa’s gnomic utterings, but he hasn’t prepared her for the evil man who enslaved and abused her ancestors, Nicholas (Glenn Stanton), haunting her dreams every night. She also sees visions from Rosa’s past, as young Rosa Jacinto (Rainbow Dickerson) moves from New Mexico to California, or as her forebear Placida (Samantha Bowling) looks relentlessly for her missing son. Rosa has an important story to tell, if Carrie is willing to listen and understand it.
Rich is funny and personable as Carrie, but one wishes her character were given more to do than simply be the confused receptacle of all the other character’s stories. Dunn does what she can with the difficult role of grandmother Rosa, but the poetical/philosophical ramblings of the dialogue as written makes her character more of a cipher. Dickerson fares better as the younger version of Rosa, but is still weighed down by the surfeit of odd things the character does and says. Stanton is solid both as the nightmarish Nicholas and Rosa’s husband, Joe, and Allard is humorous as the well-meaning if not very helpful Edgar. Finally, Brenda Banda is tartly bitchy as the dead Josefa, and Bowling is terrific as the wry, justice-seeking Placida.
Director Sylvia Cervantes Blush uses every part of the Los Angeles Theatre Center stage, projections and stylized motions, but not even Derek Christiansen & Ruby O’Brien’s vivid lighting design can make a dent in the impenetrable thicket of Rushing’s prose. There are many problems inherent in the script (including a modern 18-year-old using the words “silly billy”), but the main one is the presumption that the audience understands what is going on from the beginning. Part of this is simply skipping important character bonding moments (Carrie and Rosa go from strangers to bonded immediately without showing much of that process), but my primary concern is that I learned next to nothing about the genízaro from watching this show. It underlies the entire story, but the author presumed the audience would be completely familiar with the history and thus spends next to no time explaining it, robbing the multigenerational story of its painful drama. Also, a little bit of characters speaking in obscure phrases goes a long way, and this arty palaver adds little. There’s a worthy subject here, and perhaps a focused rewrite might make Desert Stories for Lost Girls the fascinating and moving play it wants and deserves to be.
Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles; Mon. 8 p.m.; Thurs.- Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun. 4 p.m.; through October 16. https://www.latinotheaterco.org. Running time: approximately one hour and fifty minutes.
