Men strut, snarl, vow fight to the death
Son against father in fiery 'Roosters'
By John Moore
Denver Post Theater Critic

Friday, February 07, 2003 - The first thing you notice while waiting for "Roosters" to begin on an otherwise empty set at the El Centro Su Teatro is the male chicken resting quietly in a corner, confined but content inside a coop built no bigger than the size of his own body. The rooster, named Zapata, is comfortable in his small prison, but you just know if he were to have to make room for another cock, the result would be bloody.

"Roosters" is a stylistic family drama about a young campesino facing the same scenario. His name is Hector, an insolent but charming 20-year-old who has helped his family get by in the absence of his father, who is returning today from prison on manslaughter charges.

Gallo killed a man over his cockfighters, and all he wants now is to take Zapata away to start a new breed of killer birds. But Hector, who resents his father's second coming, has inherited Zapata from his abuelo (grandfather) and now plans to sell him to raise money for the family's basic needs.

The rooster is the prideful symbol of the glory and tragedy of Hispanic machismo. These men are fighting birds themselves, trapped together in the too-small space of the family home near the Arizona/Mexico border. Once it becomes apparent that Hector is second in his father's heart behind the beauty and power of his beloved birds, you know that this, too, will inevitably end in bloodshed.

"Roosters," at once passionate, violent and magical, represents a step forward in almost every area for El Centro. In addition to frankly addressing mature issues such as women's sexuality and hints of incest, there is deep symbolism interwoven with ritualistic, savage dance artfully choreographed by Magally Rizo Antuna.

Even though "Roosters" was intended to be performed on a much larger scale, director Phil Luna has successfully conveyed conflicts that go far beyond father vs. son. There are tensions that commingle reality and fantasy, youth and age, men and women, poetry and pragmatism, dance and violence, Spanish and English, poor and not as poor.

He also has coaxed some of the more nuanced acting performances of late at El Centro, primary among them a breakout turn by Rich Castro as both Hector and Zapata (in the play's ritualistic dance transition sequences). The pony-tailed Castro, a graduate of Adams City High School and Colorado State, is a major talent in training with an easy charm, a natural demeanor and obvious dancing skills that signal great things to come.

But the cast is uniformly excellent, especially at handling surrealistic dialogue that shifts from the pedantic to the poetic. El Centro newcomer Jaime Andrade grows slowly into his role as the loathsome, selfish ex-con Gallo (Edward James Olmos played the role in the 1993 film.) Antuna excels as Juana, a delusional wife who has low self-esteem and unfulfilled sexual desires. Debra Gallegos provides comic support as Gallo's sister Chata, a sexually frank former prostitute who turns our laughs to gasps when her old hen has a drunken confrontation with a virile young rooster.

Most surprising is the winning work of Sandina Tanguma as Angel, a young girl trapped in a 15-year-old body that is maturing faster than she can handle. The girl wears fragile paper angel's wings, collects ceramic saints and hides out under the house's front stoop. Her best work comes when Gallo lifts the angel out of her shell, only to send her crashing back to Earth.

"Roosters" was written in 1984 by Milcha Sanchez-Scott, a 46-year-old American of Balinese, Chinese, Colombian and Dutch descent. It was developed at Robert Redford's Sundance Institute and debuted at the 1987 New York Shakespeare Festival.

It takes "Roosters" a little while to find its legs, and it skimps on its magic realism (Angel, for example, is supposed to rise into the air at the end, lifted by her faith and her wings). But El Centro makes up for that with its heart. And the final five minutes (though partially obstructed from some by an unwise blocking choice) is as visceral, tense and frightening as anything you are likely to see. Its sad end is so pathologically violent, and yet still, quite beautiful.

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Roosters
***(out of 4 stars)

Written by: Milcha Sanchez-Scott

Directed by: Phil Luna

Starring: Rich Castro, Jaime Andrade and Magally Rizo Antuna

Presented by: El Centro Su Teatro

Where: 4725 High St.

When: 8:05 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays through March 8

Running time: 2 hours

Tickets: $10-$13; call 303-296-0219

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