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Drunk Girl
Reviewed by Martin Hernandez
CASA 0101
Through Oct. 18.
RECOMMENDED:
With scores of sexual abuse scandals rocking academia, this collection of short plays, monologues and sketches could be adapted – with judicious editing – for campus tours to draw attention to the trauma endured by rape and abuse survivors. However, as an evening of theater, with 16 pieces and scores of roles all performed by nine actors, most of the development of the works and character is scattershot, with a few shining jewels. Nonetheless, it is a moving compilation, using humor and drama about subject matter that unquestionably needs addressing.
All but two were written or conceived by the gifted playwright Josefina López, (Real Women Have Curves), with the others by Rocio Diaz and Libette Garcia. The hilarious “Red Flag Game Show,” directed by Claudia Duran, has a teenager (Maia Villa) seeking her dad’s (Henry Madrid) permission to have a boyfriend by trying to win a game show through guessing which guys on stage are a rapist, stalker, or worse. Diaz’s “Pink Scars,: directed by Elvia Rubalcava, presents the harrowing tales of three women (Melissa Perl, Juanita Medina, and Rosa Navarrete) and their sexual abuse at the hands of men they thought could be trusted.
Some of the works depict how men can be allies and victims in the struggle against sexual abuse. “Stand Up For Women,” directed by Maria G. Martinez, offers a story of the mixed results after a male college student (Samuel Solorio) breaks up an attempted rape. “Asking For It,” directed Rubalcava, has Alex Alpharoah’s hooded character cleverly challenging two potential rapists (Solorio and Henry Alexander Kelly) and their sexual profiling of women by the way they dress.
It is the monologues, though, that bolster the show. Alpharoah delivers the haunting “Unlucky Man,” directed by Duran, about the consequences of what one man feels was a false rape charge. “Can Finally Laugh About It,” directed by Martinez, presents a stand-up comic (Jasia Topete) who starts off with humor but takes a darker turn when she discusses subject matter her cohorts aren’t willing to touch. Directed by Duran, Garcia’s compelling “Drunk Girl” (Perl) recounts her journey from abuse as a child to alcoholism and her eventual recovery from both the bottle and victimhood. While Lopez and her cohorts and the talented ensemble may hit some bumps along the road, the heartfelt journey is well worth the taking.
CASA 0101 Theater Main Stage, 2102 E. First St., Boyle Heights; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m.; through Oct. 18. (323) 263-7684, https://tickets@casa0101.04g
