Anna in the Tropics play (Photo – Darrett Sanders
I always like to remind my fellow Pasadenans that although we are quite lucky to have a significant amount of wonderful theater options right in Pasadena and nearby, we also have a number of opportunities for quality theater experiences in nearby locations.
By Carol Edger Germain
The amazing Atwater Village Theatre (a quick drive down the 2 and off at Fletcher, free parking) houses four separate theaters and is used as home base for several production companies. I recently attended two productions at Atwater Village and highly recommend both.
2019 One-Acts (Photo – Peter Carrier Photography)
2019 One-Acts
First we have Ensemble Studio Theater/LA’s production of “2019 One-Acts,” five short plays with the general theme of “moving on.”
Four were penned by women, and one by an Emmy winner. These plays ran the gamut of emotion: you will experience the characters coping with timely loss of a parent and seeking to connect with childhood premonition (“Rock Logic”); dealing with untimely loss in a case of extreme juxtaposition of parents confronting unfamiliar and uncontrollable emotions after one child takes the life of another (“The Cold Place”); watching parents trying to communicate with a teenager who communicates in emojis (a not-so-unfamiliar prediction) (“Smiling Cat Candy Heart”); a mother-and-daughter duo of true crime TV addicts (oh how I related!) facing fears fueled by imagination as the audience laughs at their expense (“Possible Deranged Lunatic”); and finally, my favorite – a witty and wise encounter between a talk show host passing the baton to an arrogant specimen of the next generation (but jerking it back for the educational impact on the upstart newcomer) (“Signing Off”).
Five complete plays in 90 minutes, and I apologize for the lack of calling out the individual performers, as there was a lot of talent in the cast, but suffice it to say that you will be emotionally jostled, mentally provoked, thoroughly entertained, made to nod wisely, and also provided with plenty of laughs throughout this production.
2019 One-Acts
• ROCK LOGIC by Sophia Lewis.
• SMILING CAT CANDY HEART by Jennie Webb.
• THE COLD PLACE by Ashley Rose Wellman.
• SIGNING-OFF by Ken Levine.
• POSSIBLE DERANGED LUNATIC by Christine Hamilton-Schmidt.
Atwater Village Theater
3269 Casitas Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90039
• Now through May 26.
Purchase tickets here.
Anna in the Tropics (Photo – Darrett Sanders)
Anna in the Tropics
Next up, Open Fist Theater Company presents a thoroughly absorbing production of Nilo Cruz’s 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Anna in the Tropics”.
We are taken back in time to 1929 Ybor City, Florida and immersed in the heart of the hand-rolled cigar business. Some companies are transitioning to machine-assisted rolling, and that option for “progress” becomes a catalyst for very heated discussions between Santiago (Steve Wilcox) the patriarch of the family business and fiery Cheche (Antonio Jaramillo), his half brother, to whom he has lost quite a bit of money gambling on cock fights, which resulted in Santiago paying part of his debt with an interest in the company. We see that relationship evolving simultaneously with seeing Santiago’s wife, Ofelia (Jill Remez) and her daughters – the young, vivacious and single Marela (Jade Santana) and her older married sister Conchita (Presciliana Esparolini) – anxiously waiting at the dock, scanning the sea for the ship bringing the new lector, Juan Julian (Byron Quiros). Lectors were often hired in the cigar-rolling factories to educate and entertain the workers, who were mostly Cuban immigrants. Juan Julian, a handsome and intriguing man, chooses Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” to read to the workers, and the steamy novel, the immigrants’ challenges and joys of establishing themselves in their new country, prohibition, jealousy and other volatile emotions combine to provide intense drama and dire consequences. A very talent-balanced cast pulls us into their lives, and the evening of voyeurism is well spent on this drama.
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