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Telenovela Wives of Pancho Villa
Reviewed by Elizabeth Wachtel
Theatre Asylum
Through Dec. 20
Mexican general Pancho Villa led a life that reads like a log line for a telenovela. A notorious outlaw turned charismatic politician, Villa rose to power during the Mexican Revolution by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, evidently (according to mythology) seducing women and taking new wives along the way. (You can almost hear a cheesy rendition of a Mexican corrido playing in the background to this narrative.) Given the popularity of historical telenovelas and the recent resurgence of period pieces on American TV, it’s surprising that artists haven’t looked further into the lives of the women in Pancho Villa’s life as source material.
Playwright Jeffery Atik mines this rich and mostly untapped source material in his Telenovela Wives of Pancho Villa. Structured as a series of intercut vignettes that both employ and satirize telenovela style, the play traces episodes from the lives of various women in Villa’s life. As the title suggests, the story of the General (played by the amusing Achilles Molina) takes somewhat of a backseat to the journeys of his wives and paramours. Atik’s text is ripe with opportunities for comedy, and the strong ensemble makes excellent use of these moments — in particular, Olivia Cristina Delgado’s Juanita) Maria Portillo’s Soledad, and Reyna Flores’sDoña Luz stand out for their precise physical characterizations and corresponding vocal work.
Under Kenneth Rudnicki’s stylish direction, Atik’s clever premise gets underscored by telenovela story-telling devices, the most effective being the melodramatic repetition of previous exchanges and sudden dance breaks. The resulting commedia dell’arte antics are diverting, at the cost of finding the piece’s emotional through-line. A convoluted plot is almost a requirement for the telenovela genre, which is precisely why telling the story of Villa and his wives in this way seems so fitting. The play, like most telenovelas, is clearly intended to be an ensemble piece, however it is challenging to identify a protagonist whose journey would support an emotional response. Doña Luz, the ‘official’ wife of Pancho Villa, would seem to be the top candidate for this position, however her path is clouded by somewhat unnecessary, albeit amusing, secondary story lines.
At various moments, Atik attempts to rise above farce, as when Villa seizes Juanita as his wife and drolly itemizes atrocities that he will not commit in the young girl’s village. Moments like these, where Atik seems to be striving for political commentary, are unfortunately few and far between. There aren’t enough of them for the audience to ask meaningful questions after the show (as with the work of Dario Fo), nor are the moments strong enough to be provocative in their own right.
It bears mentioning that although the play is billed as a Christmas story, Atik’s text makes scant mention of the holiday season, and the show’s festive gestures confuse the story rather than increase its relevance – as though the addition of Christmas flavor is more for the sake of marketing than anything else.
In its current state, Telenovela Wives of Pancho Villa is a promising work-in- progress — rusty at times (particularly the execution of the sound and costume design) but charming nonetheless. The production team and cast are well on their way to creating something more than an amusing 65-minutes at the theater, and being part of their journey is well-worth the effort.
Theatre Asylum (Elephant Space), 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; through Dec. 20. (323) 962-1632, www.theatreasylum-la.com.
