Las Mujeres del Mar
Reviewed by Deborah Klugman
Playwrights’ Arena
Extended through October 20
RECOMMENDED:
Part memory play, part social drama, Janine Salinas Schoenberg’s Las Mujeres del Mar (The Women of the Sea) tells the story of three generations of Mexican-American women who strive to love and support each other despite their past wounds and resentments. A world premiere mounted at Playwrights’ Arena, it’s skillfully directed by Diane Rodriguez, and framed by an array of technical elements that highlight a meaningful story. Yet despite good dialogue and three fully realized lead characters, the production is off the mark; racing through several generations of events at breakneck speed, it imparts sensitivity and breadth but needs more detail in parts of the narrative to attain its full power.
The story begins in Baja, California — or rather, it begins in the mind of the eldest of three women, Virginia (Dyana Ortelli), who recalls herself as a young girl, living under the thumb of an alcoholic dad but about to be rescued via marriage to Ignacio (Israel López Reyes), an ardent and handsome young fisherman. The marriage is happy for a few years, until Ignacio drowns in a storm, leaving Virginia with a two-year-old child and, eventually, at the mercy of her violent and jealous second husband (Eddie Ruiz) who maims her foot to keep her from dancing or running away.
But run away she does, fording a river carrying her daughter Marina (Adriana Sevahn Nichols) to make a new life in Los Angeles. A sweet little girl, Marina grows into an embittered adult, with a drug problem that drives a sharp wedge between herself, her own daughter Lupe (Gabriela Ortega), and Marina’s mom. Disturbed and repelled by her mother’s behavior, Lupe must also grapple with pressure to join a gang, a pull she ultimately succumbs to in order to survive on the street.
All three principal performers (each plays her character across the age spectrum) bring rich texture to their roles. Ortelli’s gentle Virginia is romantic, nurturing and given to spinning fables with the aplomb of a practiced teller of tales. Nichols establishes a larger-than-life, palpably angry presence as the addicted Marina, and later as a veteran inmate who undergoes religious conversion. Ortega’s quintessential teenager might have been cloying, but Ortega makes her vital, vibrant and sympathetic. The other actors lend strong support, including Valentina Guerra as a down-and-out fellow prisoner whom Marina counsels and bonds with.
The set (Tanya Orellana) has an alchemy all its own, its magic engendered around designer Yee Eun Nam’s backdrops of sea and sky (If you’re a sucker for nighttime on moonlit waters, her work here will draw you in). The images are complemented by lighting designer Mextin Couzin’s blue and indigo hues and Adam Schoenberg’s fluid original score. At other times the set suitably reflects the gritty world these women inhabit. Matthew Richter’s sound is especially effective in punctuating the violence that haunts their lives.
The main problem with Las Mujeres del Mar is that so much plot seems crammed into 85 minutes; it feels rather like reading the abridged version of a novel rather than the full text. For example, despite a short speech in which she talks about her confusing adolescence, Marina’s transformation from trusting childhood into a tough unstable addict who abuses her daughter just comes too fast. And no sooner is Lupe chatted up by a would-be swain than it seems the couple is making life-changing choices that will affect them for years to come.
While many plays I’ve seen might have benefited from pruning, here, rather anomalously, you have a script that might better tells its story with two acts instead of one.
Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village; Sat., 4 p.m. & 8 p.m.; Sun., 4 p.m.; Mon., 8 p.m.; no Sat. night show on 10/5; extended through Oct. 20. www.playwrightsarena.org or (800) 838-3006. Running time: approximately 85 minutes with no intermission.
