Guest Review

A Poignant MTC TopDog/Underdog

Pulitzer Awardee Suzan-Lori Parks portrays the compelling and touching relationship between African American brothers Lincoln and Booth manifestiing their brotherly love and fraternal resentment as they live miserably in room without water and a toilet. The audience feels compassion for these brothers who have only themselves to find their way through the poverty they face as well as share their sense of humor throughout. Abandoned first by their mother and later by their father at an early age, younger brother Booth (Biko Eisen-Martin), a clever, swift moving thief, looks after older brother Lincoln (Bowman Wright), a tricky three card monte hustler who is divorced and without means to rent a place. Booth looks up to Lincoln, an addicted card hustler fighting to lose his addiction by wearing Lincoln’s top hat and cape to enact the main events in Abraham Lincoln’ life at a store front. His struggle to obliterate his addiction by playing a moral Lincoln helps him feel good but intensifies his conflict with going back to hustling the card tricks.. Booth’s relationship with girlfriend Grace menaces to have Lincoln find a place of his own. There are less tense moments when the brothers look back at the happier times in their early family life. But these moments are soon buried by the realization that first their mother and then their father left them to their own destiny. “Then it was you and me against the world,” says one brother to the other.
Can they survive if they give up making illicit money or robbing? And when Booth succeeds in getting Lincoln to show him the card moves Lincoln’s requires they play for big money. This leads to one brother losing his only savings given to him by one of his parents that will bring the action to a stirring melodramatic climax.

Expertly directed by Timothy Williams, the actors’ use of physical movement is well utilized in this piece consisting for the most part in a dialogue between two actors.

Stage sets by Mikiko Useugi and costumes by Callie Floor display the poverty surrounding the brothers and play an essential role in the dramatic action

Along with the realistic and gripping portrayal by Wright and Eisen-Martin of two poor jobless brothers presented in colorful street slang with lyrical rap during the card playing scenes., the piece is a heart wrenching presentation of fraternal warfare and love as well as a revealing testimony of the hardships of the African American struggle for economic and social survival.

TopDog/UnderDog plays until October 28st. For info call 415-388-5208 or visit www.marintheatre.org

Guest Review

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A Forceful Strange Case of Citizen de la Cruz at Bindlestiff Studio

The world premiere of poet, essayist, and literature and language professor at Hunter College and New York University Luis H. Francia’s first full length play depicts the demise of Bayani de la Cruz, a Philippine patriot during the Marshall Law under the Marcus Regime. Francia describes the events of this period with authenticity and a talent to bring to the stage the horrors of the human abuse that took place.in his country. Strengthening this portrayal of the dehumanization of the country’s inhabitants is the description of the loss of virility on the part of those subjected to this severe regime.

Quack Doctor Mang Kiko (colorfully created as an eccentric character role by Percival Arcibal) is kept busy selling a potion to cure impotent husbands. One spectator queried as to whether Mang Kiko’s potion symbolized the revolution as a cure against the regime. And psychiatrist Dr. Santiago is receiving requests from wives (emotionally well portrayed by Christine Jugueta as Nena de la Cruz) to help their husbands uplift their morale or regain their potency. Meanwhile militant Captain Rivera (performed with the use of violent physical tactics by Tasi Alabastro) is willing to save the doctor from the regime’s condemnation of his revolutionary views if he can cure the Captain’s own impotency.

We also witness several scenes of violent and brutal physical and mental torture. The overly patriotic De la Cruz (believably played by Ryan Morales),who once kept numerous flags of his country in his bedroom, is caught stealing passports in his work place and viciously tortured by Captain Rivera and his staff before our eyes. There are also some excellent combat fight scenes.

Directed by Jeffrey Lo with an able cast handling the high points, the production grasps the audience’s attention in an intimate stage space with well chosen musical selections accompanying the action.

This play depicts the extremist forces under the Marcus regime that served as a tool to strengthen the ruling class and demoralized the country’s citizens. The author also subtly warns of the dangers of extreme patriotism that forces citizens into blind submission.

The Strange Case of Citizen de la Cruz reveals a candid and forcefully dramatized account of the events that the citizens underwent in the Philippines during the Marshall Law.

Bindlestiff Studio is the epicenter for Pilipino and Filipino performing arts that provides Filipino Americans access to diverse artistic activities and engages artists of different arts and disciplines to evolve community theatre that offers creative new works and talent.

The Strange Case of Citizen de la Cruz plays until Oct. 13th. For information call 415-255.0440 or 800.838.3006 or visit www.bindlestiffstudio.org..
Annette Lust

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