THE MOTHER F _ _ _ _ _ WITH THE HAT<\/p>\n
\u00a0Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle<\/p>\n
\u00a0Now through March 16th<\/sup>, the San Francisco Playhouse is performing THE MOTHER F _ _ _ _ _ WITH THE HAT by Stephen Adly Guirgis.<\/p>\n \u00a0If theatre was invented, as Artistic Director Bill English avers, \u201cto fulfill a spiritual purpose in our lives,\u201d then this play reaches a close approximation of that raison d\u2019\u00eatre.<\/p>\n \u00a0The characters in the play are not the kinds of people who are likely to attend a performance of THE MOTHER \u2026 , they are not likely to be people you would strike up a conversation with on BART, well Veronica yes, but for all the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n \u00a0The show is a high octane blend of volatility: part mystery\u2014whose hat is it?\u2014part comedy and part dysfunctional love story.<\/p>\n \u00a0Jackie who discovers the hat in his girlfriend\u2019s apartment\u2014played by one of the finest actors in the Bay Area: Gabriel Marin\u2014is likely to be the rantipole carrying on a heated conversation with himself on the subway; if you accidently sat next to Jackie, you would relocate to another seat, another car or possibly exit the train and wait for the next one.<\/p>\n \u00a0Profanity rolls off Jackie\u2019s tongue like it did for Pacino in SCARFACE.<\/p>\n \u00a0Jackie\u2014much to Marin\u2019s superb acting credit\u2014speaks a staccato Bronx dialect at a rate just a notch below the red line on your audio processing speed; were the entire cast to speak as rapid fire as Jackie, the show would be compressed to a half hour.<\/p>\n \u00a0If Jackie is the explosive, then Veronica\u2014played by Isabelle Ortega with self-absorbed detachment and sizzling eroticism\u2014is the both Chiquita who lights the fuse and the detonator.<\/p>\n \u00a0As the Jungians remind us, when the psyche is not well, it does not call in a psychotherapist, it invites a Joker into our lives; a Joker who resonates with us and one which has the power to torment us, lancing our psychic carbuncles and reopening scars.<\/p>\n \u00a0Veronica is that Joker; a masterful manipulator, operating on a low budget, giving everyone what they want while extracting everything she needs via an invisible symbiosis.<\/p>\n \u00a0Veronica is pure contractualism dressed up as intimacy and sensuality; you might let her into your life but you will never get her out of your mind.<\/p>\n \u00a0Cousin Julio\u2014played delightfully by Rudy Guerrero\u2014is the rose in Spanish Harlem: sharp, savvy, cool, hip, funny, sensitive, buff and faithfully connected at the familial root with Jackie; he puts leavening and light into the show.<\/p>\n \u00a0A set design by Bill English and Matt Vuolo looks like it was ripped from the hood; somewhere north of 125 Street.<\/p>\n \u00a0High Speed Rail might never get to California but THE MOTHER F _ _ _ _ _ WITH THE HAT \u2026 has already pulled into the station; it is a bullet train that rips through the evening air, powered by a high tension plot line and an energized cast.<\/p>\n \u00a0This is high speed entertainment; the seats should have shoulder harnesses.<\/p>\n \u00a0For tickets, contact the Box Office at SFPLAYHOUSE.ORG or 415.667.9596.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE MOTHER F _ _ _ _ _ WITH THE HAT \u00a0Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle \u00a0Now through March 16th, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[837],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-joe-cillo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"