Actors stand out in a cliched drama about Latinos
Roosters, Theatre Exile's new production, is a play about Latino machismo. And because the play is written by a woman (Milcha Sanchez-Scott) and directed by a woman (Deborah Block), it is not surprising that machismo is both swooned over and reviled.
Roosters
, Theatre Exile's new production, is a play about Latino machismo. And because the play is written by a woman (Milcha Sanchez-Scott) and directed by a woman (Deborah Block), it is not surprising that machismo is both swooned over and reviled.
The roosters of the title are both the cock-of-the-walk men who strut through this world and the birds who fight for their honor. Cockfighting is a given in this world; nobody frets about cruelty to animals as they fasten gleaming blades to the roosters' feet.
A high-flying bird called Zapata has been bequeathed to 20-year-old Hector by his grandfather. But Hector's father, Gallo, a local cockfighting legend who has returned from seven years in prison for killing a man in a knife fight, refuses to let him claim the rooster, thus preventing him from achieving his own manhood. Zapata is Gallo's true son, his lindo. And so this is, in the end, a family drama.
The thwarted women of Roosters are the usual selection: a long-suffering mother, Juana, who longs "to stand still - I want to look like I have secrets," but sees herself as only "plain;" her deranged teenage daughter, Angela, who wants to be a little child, is intensely religious, and fends off sinister men by declaring "I am the Angel of Acid Saliva, and I spit on you;" and the inevitable third in this female trio, Aunt Chata, the whore.
All of this is, of course, entirely cliche, and reveals nothing new about Latino life in the American Southwest. What gives Sanchez-Scott a distinctive voice (far more interesting in her one-act plays Dog Lady and The Cuban Swimmer) is the theatrical combining of naturalism (lots of eating and drinking) with a knockoff variety of magical realism, here involving men (Peter M. DiGeronimo and Chris Devany), trained in the Afro-Brazilian martial art of capoeira, dancing as roosters. Their balletic slowness and the obscuring angles of presentation in the 3/4-round, makes their performance too tame - sidewalk break-dancers are more astounding - and they never convince us that cockfighting is a thing of beautiful cruelty.
If the play were one act instead of two, allowing the tension to build to a blazing finale, it might thrill us more; if the production were directed with more speed and sexuality, it might thrill us more. There is talk of blood, but the show lacks bloody-mindedness, the electric current that would make all this posturing matter. Act 1's final stage directions read: "Drums and stomping crescendo as Zapata brutally kills San Juan. Blackout." Nothing this exciting happens onstage.
That said, however, Joe Guzmán is terrific as Gallo, making all the physical elements of the role convincing. The rest of the cast all turn in solid performances: Catalina Medina, a Colombian actress making her professional American debut as grim and down-hearted Juana; Anjoli Santiago, a charming young actress making her professional debut as Angela; Oscar Claveria Dubón as Hector, the angry son; Melissa Sabater as the good-natured slattern, Chata; and Emmanuel Carrera as the decent friend-of-family, Adan.
Roosters
Written by Milcha Sanchez-Scott. Directed by Deborah Block. Sets by Matt Saunders, costumes by Hiroshi Iwasaki, lighting by Paul Moffitt, sound by Christopher Colucci.
Cast: Emmanuel Carrera (Adan), Chris Devany (Zapata/Shadow #1), Peter M. DiGeronimo (San Juan/Shadow #2), Oscar Claveria Dubón (Hector), Joe Guzmán (Gallo), Catalina Medina (Juana), Melissa Sabater (Chata), Anjoli Santiago (Angela).
Playing at Christ Church Neighborhood House, 20 N. American St. Through Feb. 24. Tickets $15-$40. Information: 215-922-4462 or www.theatreexile.org
EndText