eXtras

Rubicon Theatre Company
Reviewed by Jessica Salans
Through May 1

RECOMMENDED

I turned fourteen while on a trip to London in 2003. I went with my local community theater company, without my parents, and saw 10 plays in 8 days while snatching up every sight London and Bath had to offer. One of the ten plays was Stone in his Pockets by Marie Jones. It was about a small, rural town in Ireland where the locals were employed as extras in a Hollywood film.

I remember being absolutely smitten with the show. There are only two actors and they play fifteen roles that require great vocal, physical and comedic dexterity. Seeing the play then revealed to me just how unique the craft of the theater actor is, and how transformative it can be as an audience member when one allows one’s imagination to run rampant with the cast.

Rubicon Theatre Company is hosting a Mexican adaptation of the play, titled eXtras, in association with the acclaimed Foro Shakespeare company of Mexico City. Adapted ten years ago by Sabina Berman, it takes place in a town on the edge of the Mexican-California border where a film shoot is ongoing, with the two main characters competing for top billing in the Hollywood hierarchy. The show features renowned Mexican performers Bruno and Odiseo Birchir who have many Mexican theatre and American film awards to their credit. eXtras, which is directed by Bruno, marks the U.S. stage debut for both of them.

On stage the brothers have only their own talents to fill the entire theatrical space. They utilize every corner of the theater, successfully executing quiet scenes of dialogue in compelling stillness, while just as effectively dashing across the stage to portray cud-chewing cows. 

Seventeen-year-old composer, singer and performer Maya Burns provides pre-show music and accompaniment, along with a very skilled Marcos Ruedos. Ms. Burns’  music adds quirkiness to the production while Ruedos, who plays a small Spanish guitar and an accordion, lends soul to our experience before and during intermission.

Like Stones in His Pockets, eXtras is billed as a tragicomedy, one that compassionately highlights the plight of the bottom 99% in contrast with the top 1%.  The piece also spotlights racism in casting: The film “extras” are played by local Mexicans, while the main actors are famous white Americans. And issues such as immigration, who “writes” our history (and what that means for our understanding of it) and the problems engendered by gentrification also are focused on.

eXtras is entertaining but – just as important – it leaves the aware audience member musing about the real-world consequences these matters have for the Latin-American community.  And while it is crucial for white audiences to see this show (or others like it, mainly because we are the people creating the problems it addresses) — if the Birchir brothers brought their show to Boyle Heights, with accessible ticket prices, they’d pack a theater with locals who feel the hierarchical burn as much as their characters do.

eXtras at Rubicon Theatre Company, 1006 E Main St., Ventura, CA, 93001; Wed. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Thurs.-Sat. 8 p.m.; Sat. and Sun. 2 p.m. through May 1; https://www.rubicontheatre.org/