References to Salvador Dalí
Make Me Hot
Written by José Rivera
Directed by Emmi Hilger
at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee (map)
thru Sept 7 | tickets: $20 | more info
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Strong cast, but too much realism, not enough magic
Something Incredibly Marvelous Happens presents
References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot
Review by Joy Campbell
Presented as part of the Something Incredibly Marvelous Happens, a festival of magical realism, References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot explores, in the artistic director’s words, “The terrifying universal struggle to find a secure, meaningful connection with another person.”
In José Rivera’s script, metaphors of Gabriela’s turmoil are played out in scenes in which Gabriela’s cat (Arti Ishak) is courted by Coyote (an agile and lascivious Luke Couzens). Calling Cat from her safe domestic life, Coyote seduces her with his dangerous and wild nature. Will he love her? Consume her? Both? Overseeing it all is Moon, lover of love and romance, whose lunar glow creates magic and desire in all it touches. As the guitar-playing, serenading Moon, Glenn Stanton is a stand-out: sexy, seductive, with a voice like velvet and a mesmerizing presence; he is a god of love and a delight to behold. Fourteen-year-old Martin (an engaging Issac Arias) is the neighbor boy whose undaunted desire for Gabriela represents the passion she once felt for her now husband.
The cast is likeable, but Rivera’s weak script isn’t helped by unfocused direction. Torres and Castro are solid actors, but their interactions show more irritation than connection, and scenes that should show us a complicated relationship between two people torn between love and self-preservation instead devolve into back-and-forth of recriminations that get tiresome. Rivera’s script is at times disappointingly pat (soldier deployed in Iraq, does something he seemingly regrets, but then shrugs off. Has nightmares).
In a script, obvious questions raised without resolution are distracting. Army wife struggling to find identity takes an astronomy course, but why isn’t she getting a degree, if she’s so bored and worried about her lack of education? Why is her husband deployed all the time? Why can’t Gabriela find a single friend in an army post full of army wives who share her situation? These things are explained away too easily in order to create the antagonism that drives the conflict.
There is a lot of subtext in the script but it’s not brought out. Like the coyote and the cat, Gabby and Benito are reduced to types (horny husband, fearful, distant wife) having the same old arguments, only we’re not given enough of the relationship that brought them together to know whether we should be mourning, or rooting for them to go their separate ways and grow. There may be a reason for these broadly drawn characterizations that I can’t go into without spoilers, but it’s hard to be invested in a relationship that is little more than argument.
Aside from the full-moon backdrop, little about the show suggests much magic. Magical Realism is like a gentle acid trip where dream logic reigns. Dustin Pettegrew’s set is adequate, but is fairly pedestrian and colorless, as are the costumes. Much could have been done technically to visually to make the piece more … well, magical. Delia Ridenour’s costuming is likewise less magical realism than just-plain realism. The scenes featuring Cat, Coyote, and Moon seem like a good opportunity to contrast their feel with the sense between Benito and Gabriela.
With a little work, the weaknesses in Rivera’s script could be overcome, if the affection between the characters, and the characters behind the words were fleshed out and developed. This group has the potential, and I look forward to more from them – perhaps with some stronger material.
Rating: ★★
References to Salvador Dali continues through September 7th at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays 3pm. Tickets are $20, and are available online through their website (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at SomethingMarvelous.org. (Running time: 2 hours 5 minutes, includes an intermission)
Photos by Anthony Aicardi
artists
cast
Allyce Torres (Gabriela), Christian Castro (Benito), Glenn Stanton (Moon), Arti Ishak (Cat), Luke Couzens (Coyote), Isaac Arias (Martín)
behind the scenes
Emmi Hilger (director, producer), Garth Moritz (production stage manager), Charlotte Drover (assistant director), Mary Siegel (dramaturg), Cruz Gonzales-Cadel (casting assistant), Dustin Pettegrew (scenic designer), Jake Puralewski (technical director), John Kelly (lighting designer), Delia Ridenour (costume designer), Mikey Moran (sound designer), Janelle Boudreau (props designer), Mark Penzien (violence designer), Danielle Sthal (violence assistant), Aaron Lewis (graphic designer), Laura Nash (artistic director), Sarah Mayhan (literary manager), Anthony Aicardi (photos)
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