By Joe Straw
The light that illuminates a human being and clarifies the character is something one finds totally gratifying. In that respect, one is open to the unlimited possibilities.
Casa 0101 is one of my favorite theatres in Los Angeles. It is a warm place and very inviting for developing Latino writers and directors. On this night one is here to see a play that is the composition of Latina writer Lindsey Haley and Latina director Vilma Villela.
Favorite Cousins by Lindsey Haley, directed by Vilma Villela, and produced by Emmanuel Deleage is now playing at Casa 0101 through May 21, 2023, in the newly named Gloria Molina Auditorium.
Los Angeles is the land of dreamers, those who put forth the effort to create in whatever limited time they have, always thinking about the next step to move forward in that act of creation. So, one must applaud the creators of this play, that they moved, in some kind of uniformity to put on a play before an audience, tall and small, young and old, to all who are open to receive what they have offered on this night.
As it comes to all people, someone has died, a grandmother (una abuela), their grandmother, she had a home in Santa Monica that she has sold to Junior (Daniel Ruiz) to pay for her medical bills. He is planning to sell it, and the ones that will be doing the cleaning up are her granddaughters Gloria (Raquel Salinas) and Frances (Vanessa Arias-Herra) with the help of their Comadre Josephine (Tina D’Marco).
Josephine is a friend to the family, a neighbor, someone who helped when that need came. She is going through a box of photographs, commenting on the times and the things that made her happy.
To her, it seems a shame the family had to give up their home that they’ve had in the family for many generations. The family has been living there since the opening of the Santa Monica Pier in 1909.
Gloria, busy putting things in boxes, takes a break and sits beside her to reminisce. They await the arrival of Gloria’s cousin Frances.
Frances, arrives, all decked out, jewelry, fancy purse, and a black dress, designer no doubt. Not something someone would wear when cleaning up a home but there you have it. But the moment Frances opens the door she ignores her cousin Gloria and greets her Comadre Josephine with open arms.
Hope is critical to this play. It is the driving force that brings the two women (cousins) together despite their conflict and without love there is no hope.
All plays are a work in progress (even the ones headed to Broadway), and Lindsey Haley’s work found a very appreciative crowd on this night. There are many things that are so unique and warm about this play, things that worked, and other things that did not work. It is mainly the collaboration between the actors and the director that finds the significant moments to accentuate and to move the play forward. They were once favorite cousins, now they are not. The conflict seems too great to overcome and yet they manage to find a way.
This is a five-character play - however there are a multitude of characters in the proverbial wings - Berto, Linda, Joey, Kiki (Enrique), Marcos, Armando, parents, grandmother, other cousins they didn’t know about, and spouses. Keeping it a little simpler, and defining the characters would help the play along.
Finding a way to become favorite cousins again becomes the way the players move – a through line to accomplish their goals. And while Vilma Villela, the director, moves them in that direction it starts and stops in ways that does not move the character to a satisfying end. If the tree and the roses are set pieces, then she must find a way to use them. (Also, as a practical note: The art piece of the tree with the names of people murdered by guns in the neighborhood may not be a good selling point when you’re trying to sell the house.) The play has two other characters as well that would be well to have a connection with the ladies that are in the house. A possible way is for them to enter the bedroom as Junior is showing the house. As it divides the women in the scene, it would also unite them, or move them closer together.
Raquel Salinas must make a choice in the type of character she wants to be. She is rough around the edges, we get that. But she has got a timeline to clear the house and she does little to get that done. Her boxes remain empty for the first twenty minutes of the play. She has beer, lots of it sitting on the vanity, but makes a choice to drink very little of it. Whether that is purposeful remains to be seen. And when her cousin enters the bedroom, someone must connect, or at least try to in the opening moments, whether it’s emotional or physical there must be that effort of trying, conflict, or no conflict. Give that opening moment a chance to make a meaningful connection. There’s a huge history in their backstory that gets ignored when that connection is not made.
Vanessa Arias-Herrera as Frances has a different backstory and must bring that story to light the moment she enters the room. Frances rolls into the room with her bankers’ boxes but must also feel the weight on her shoulders when she steps into her childhood home. She needs her cousin, and we must see that in the opening moments until her pride gets in her way. Also, (and this may be me) but doing business for the sake of doing something on stage doesn’t move the play along. A case in point, Frances takes out neatly folded clothes in the chest of drawers only to neatly fold them again to put them in the boxes, rather than taking the neatly folded clothes and putting them in the box.
Daniel Ruiz plays Junior on this night. Ruiz has a strong voice but has a lot more work to do to give the character a stronger objective and to create a relationship to the two women in the house. There is much to highlight in this beautiful home in Santa Monica except the tree which he must somehow hide. His objective must be to get the best price for his home. If the women are in the house, and looking out the window, he must tell them that he’s got it all under control, dialogue, or no dialogue.
Scott Golden is Tim, the prospective home buyer, and he does remarkably well for the short time he is on stage.
Tina D’Marco plays Comadre Josephine and is a longtime family friend. This is a very peculiar role for this character. In the opening moments she is looking through old photographs as though she was part of the family, the appearance of this action suggests that she is a family member and is confusing when trying to find out who this person is which we get later in the dialogue. But to give this character more life, she is after all the comic foil, she should create some action for us to know who she really is. It is something to give the character a three dimensional life. There are a thousand creative choices she can make but make she must.
Tricia Cruz and Johnny Ortiz did not perform the night I attended.
Marco De Leon has given the actors a beautiful set from which to make their magic. It is both functional and is a living and breathing bedroom set in Santa Monica masterfully built by Jeremiah Ocañas. Doreen Sanchez adds to the beautiful home as the prop master.
Other members of the production team are as follows:
Max Brother – Technical Director/Sound Designer
Kevin Vasquez – Lighting Designer
Daniel Corona – Stage Manager
Al Aguilar – Production Assistant
Steve Moyer – Publicist
Itzel Ocampo - Art Design/Casa 0101 Administrator
Production Photographer – LeeAnna “Sparky” Bowman-Carpio
Soap Studio, Inc. – Playbill Design
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