Real and virtual families connect in \u201cWater by the Spoonful,\u201d an intricately constructed, intriguing drama by Quiara Alegr\u00eda Hudes.<\/p>\n
Presented by TheatreWorks, this Pulitzer Prize-winning play focuses on two kinds of families.<\/p>\n
The real family is two cousins, Elliot (Miles Gaston Villanueva) and Yazmin (Sabina Zuniga Varela), in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in North Philadelphia. An aspiring actor, Elliot was wounded in Iraq and now works at Subway. He’s haunted by a ghost (George Psarras) from Iraq. Yazmin is a recently divorced Swarthmore professor of music.<\/p>\n
Their aunt, whom Elliot calls his mother and whom he cared for, dies of cancer. She reared him after her sister, his crack-addicted mother, gave him up.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, his estranged birth mother, Odessa (Zilah Mendoza), who has since kicked the crack habit, administers a virtual family on an anonymous online chat room for other crack addicts in various stages of recovery. Her handle is Haikumom.<\/p>\n
This disparate group includes the 50ish Chutes&Ladders (Anthony J. Haney), an IRS employee; the 20ish Orangutan (Anna Ishida), a smart-mouthed Japanese American; and the newest member, Fountainhead (Patrick Kelly Jones). He’s a 30ish entrepreneur on his way down because of his addiction, which he tries to hide from his family. He’s having a hard time kicking the habit.<\/p>\n
Over the course of the two-act play, several characters take tentative strides to improve their lives and\/or to connect with others, but it’s not easy.<\/p>\n
Intelligently directed by Leslie Martinson, each actor portrays a distinct, interesting character confronting challenges.<\/p>\n
Erik Flatmo’s multi-level set creates defined spaces for the action, augmented by Erik Scanlon’s projections and Steven B. Mannshardt’s lighting. The character-specific costumes are by Anna R. Oliver. The sound design by Gregory Robinson includes works by pioneering jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, whom Yazmin cites in one of her lectures.<\/p>\n
All of these elements add up to a compelling theatrical experience.<\/p>\n