Whittier Boulevard
Reviewed by Deborah Klugman
The Latino Theatre Company at LATC
Through May 28
RECOMMENDED
In a world grown progressively more dystopian, the collectively created Whittier Boulevard seems apt indeed —even more so for people of a certain age.
An ensemble piece from the Latino Theater Company, made resonant by stunning projections and a sonorous score and sound, it’s a stygian satire set in a formidably futuristic Los Angeles circa 2042. A waft of storms and shortages has disrupted the social fabric and ushered in the mandated killing-off of unmarried individuals who have reached 75 — as well as a host of other totalitarian interdictions, including a ban on cannabis and the death penalty for people who are gay.
At risk is former Chicana movie star Veronica Del Rio (Evelina Fernández), a self-obsessed drama queen who fancies herself as charismatic and sexy as she might once have been at the height of her fame. The 74-year-old Veronica is looked after by her eminently practical caretaker, Pilar (Lucy Rodriguez), who’s both protective of her deluded charge and impatient with her foolish notions. When Roger (Geoffrey Rivas), a police officer following up on a tip, enters their home and demands proof of age, Pilar frantically stalls. She knows the uncovering of Veronica’s true seniority will warrant what’s euphemistically referred to as a trip down Whittier Boulevard, an ominous jaunt from which the elderly never return.
The threat to Veronica’s life is temporarily stayed when Pablo (Sal Lopez), a poet and an old acquaintance of hers, makes an entrance. He joins Pilar in an effort to distract the law-and-order minded Roger from his task, which is helped by Roger having been a die-hard fan of Veronica’s films (earlier, with a flourish, she’d handed him an autographed 8 by 10) but made more difficult by her own clueless pronouncements which sabotage her safety.
Directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela, who collaborated with the cast on the script, Whittier Boulevard is a fable-like tale with elements of magical realism, a character-driven humor, and an absurdism steeped in the savory flavors of Latino culture. Enjoyable and easy to relate to, it serves as commentary not only on ageism in our society, but also on the combined threat of climate change, Covid and authoritarianism that now stalks all of us worldwide.
Among the cast the standout performance belongs to Rivas, whose fascist foot soldier, a nice enough fella, allows his native compassion to be overrun by an excessive respect for “the law.” Rivas’s presentation is satisfyingly crisp on the outside — but he’s also grasped onto a nub of truth from within to animate his character. The other performers play their parts larger than life, which works OK given the genre but could be more effective with some interior spark added in. As Pilar, a character who undergoes a change, Rodriguez may be tipping her hat too soon.
Perhaps the most memorable aspects of this production are its spectacular visual and aural effects. Two projection designers, Yee Eun Nam and Yuki Izumihara — flood the walls of the proscenium from start to finish with a potpourri of two-tiered images — some of protests for social justice, some from old Latino films, still others purely fantastical effects that lend the story its other-worldly scope. Equally impressive are composer Robert J. Revell’s original score and sound (with John Zalewski consulting), which acts as a courier of the theme along with the text. Lighting designer Pablo Santiago imbues François-Pierre Couture’s scenic design with a warm reddish hue, an appealing color that carries with it (for me, anyway) the suggestion of a kind of “hell-lite.” The main glitch in all of this is that the actors tend to get lost in the swirl of effects, their persons less brightly illumined than they might be. Then again, maybe that’s how it is in a world where the giant outside forces that dwarf us seal our fate.
Latino Theatre Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring Street, downtown L.A. Thurs.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 3 pm, Mon. May 1 & 15, 8 pm; thru May 28. www.latinotheaterco.org. Running time: 80 minutes with no intermission.
