October 25, 2002 The title of Hispanic might be one of the most confounding confederations in the United States. Broadway actress Josie de Guzman, in a panel on race and theater, said: "Hispanic is a cultural and linguistic distinction, not a racial one. There are Asian Hispanics, black Hispanics, Caucasian Hispanics, and Indian Hispanics, as well as combinations of all four." But most American cities have a dominant Hispanic culture. In Denver, it's Mexican-Chicano. In Miami, it's Cuban. In New York, it's Puerto Rican. El Centro Su Teatro opens a window for audiences of all backgrounds with Dolores Prida's Botanica, a play that brings the eastern Caribbean, with its tostones, mofongo and humidity, to the arid Front Range. The scent of Doña Geno's incense quickly transports the audience to her small, unadorned East Harlem botanica. Like a Mexican curandera, she serves her community with herbal remedies for maladies both physical and psychic. Doña Geno's East Harlem is one of the self-contained worlds that exist in every major metropolis. Everyone in it is Puerto Rican (with, perhaps, the occasional Dominican visitor); her adult daughter, Anamu, hasn't gone beyond three blocks in years. In this city within a city, Doña Geno is the godmother, "a queen in her palace of cholesterol and patchouli." But her granddaughter, Milagros, wants what she thinks is a bigger life. Milagros has just graduated from a New Hampshire college where she majored in business, changed her name to Millie, and exited with a lust for the Anglo world downtown. The generation gap in Botanica and the difficult dance of assimilation are themes visited in dozens of films, plays and books. They don't make Botanica worth seeing; instead, it is the vivid dialogue and distinctive setting that bring it to life. Yolanda Ortega-Ericksen, herself a doyenne of El Centro Su Teatro, plays Doña Geno with wit and a powerful presence, commanding respect from both family and customers. Laura Chavez is well cast (and dressed) as Millie, a girl who exemplifies the immigrant dichotomy: Born in New York, she isn't Puerto Rican, but the Anglos she encounters don't see her as American. Community members wander into the store, giving context and flavor to the play. Fanny Andrade provides pure comedy as Carmen, a girl who looks and sounds like Rosie Perez and is perfectly home in the barrio. Director Phil Luna gets fine performances from his leads, although he seems to have skimped on some of the smaller roles. Too much dialogue is delivered face-forward, over the audience's heads. With flute music and incense, the botanica is present in sound and scent, but visually fails to take us there. Hugo E. Carbajal's store has powders and formulas, but none of the vibrant color associated with such stores. And an Act II transformation is woefully underdone. What viewers take away, though, is the dance Ortega-Ericksen and Chavez perform with the script. Prida, the author, thankfully avoids the easy way out (although her characters' ignorance of computers is laughable). Her characters and her audience can, indeed, have it all.
Lisa Bornstein is the theater
critic. Bornsteinl@RockyMountain News.com or (303)892-5101 |