BWW Reviews: CVRep's Production of LA GRINGA Features Superb Acting, Directing, and Production, but the Script is Weak

Coachella Valley Repertory's (CVRep's) new production of LA GRINGA is, as usual, brilliantly acted and brilliantly directed (by Ron Celona). The set design and other technical aspects of the production are, again as usual, also superb. For these reasons, I recommend seeing the play. However, even though the Repertorio Español won an Obie special citation in 1996 for its "New Voices" program, which included LA GRINGA, I consider Carmen Rivera's script to be mediocre; although she intended the show to be a comedy, it is not very funny.

LA GRINGA is the third in CVRep's 2014-15 series of four plays exploring the American melting pot; each production focuses on the forces tugging on ethnic Americans as they struggle with their dual identities. In this show, the idealistic Maria Elena Garcia, an Anglophone child of Puerto Rican parents, invites herself to her extended family's home over the Christmas holidays to explore her roots. Recently dumped by her Italian-American boyfriend because he is afraid to tell his bigoted parents that he is dating a Puerto Rican girl, she seeks solace in the bosom of her island aunt and uncles, only to discover that they and her chronically unemployed cousin think of her as American - a gringa - instead of a fellow Puerto Rican. Only her nonconformist uncle, Manolo is willing to accept Maria for what she is, New York background and all. Maria manages to navigate her way through the family drama that she has unintentionally caused, and helps the family members to expand their horizons.

First, the good news: In addition to Mr. Celona's brilliance as director, most of the actors, many of whom are members of Actors Equity, make the most of their roles. Ayanery Reyes is excellent as Maria, the innocent who, at first, feels at home on the island and expects Puerto Riqueños to accept her as one of them. Ms. Reyes portrays Maria as a person who is still too immature to see shades of gray; to her, Puerto Rico vacillates between Heaven and Hell, without stopping anywhere in between. Ms. Reyes adroitly conveys both Maria's inner strength and how that strength falters when Maria decides that she doesn't belong anywhere.

The other three meaty roles are those of Tio (Uncle) Manolo (Peter Mins); cousin Iris (Kyla Garcia); and the tyrannical Tia (Aunt) Norma (Marina Re). Tio Manolo affects a devil-may-care attitude to mask his inner pain. When his sister insists that his unspecified terminal illness (apparently heart disease) requires him to remain in bed, he does her bidding and foregoes venturing outside the house for five years. Iris resents that, despite her advanced degrees, she is unable to find suitable work on the island, yet cannot bring herself to leave because she cannot face her mother's inevitable wrath. Tia Norma, the bitter, self-appointed center of the family, stands ready to eviscerate her loved ones when they show any sign of challenging her autocratic reign. All three actors so skillfully portray their characters' misery that the action on-stage is sometimes almost too painful to watch.

Jimmy Cuomo keeps up his pattern of scoring 10's for CVRep's set design. The family's kitchen, its cabinets painted in orange and olive green, perfectly evokes the tropical island setting. Poinsettias and a tiny, decorated Christmas tree sit on the counter. One poinsettia pot is decorated with green and red plaid paper, an incongruous Christmas combination in the otherwise Latino-looking room.

Early in the play, Tia Norma makes very clear to Maria that she doesn't let anyone else cook without permission in the kitchen that she considers her space. In designing the otherwise vicious Norma's cheerful kitchen, Mr. Cuomo has telegraphed that there is still a sunny side to Norma, which she spends almost the whole play desperately trying not to reveal, even to herself. His design helps soften Norma and make her seem more human.

Although a quick glance at Google reveals that I am in a tiny minority, I believe that playwright Carmen Rivera could have hit a home run with LA GRINGA, but instead, she managed only a weak pop fly. The script is repetitive and could be shortened. Some of the scenes would work better in a different location - Maria's humorous scene with her two tios in Manolo's room would have helped set the stage for the rest of the action, had Ms. Rivera placed it early in Act I.

Norma has cared for Olga's and Norma's ill brother, Manolo, for the last five years. She is also the one who took care of their mother until she died. It would be understandable for Norma to feel that Olga and her husband evaded responsibility by leaving for New York and assuaged their consciences through sending money back to the family. However, the basis for her resentment of Olga and Maria has little to do with Olga's apparent abandonment of the family and Puerto Rico. Instead, she believes Olga slighted her by choosing their mother's burial place in the island's interior, instead of placing her grave near the family's home, and is also seeking a way to take possession of Norma's house. Ms. Rivera leaves unclear why she chose these grievances as an excuse for Norma to conclude that her niece is not a true Puerto Riqueña, when Ms. Rivera could so easily have highlighted the better-fitting resentment about Olga's escape.

LA GRINGA emphasizes that residents of Puerto Rico tend to think of their island as a "country" and the mainland of the United States as a different country. This, too, is a lost opportunity, because the playwright, could have, but did not, explore in detail the frequently hilarious results when a newcomer encounters cultural differences that he or she does not understand. Although Ms. Rivera included one such fish-out-of-water scenario, it is as likely to elicit horrified gasps from the audience as it is laughter. The play could have used several more in the first act to live up to the playwright's designation of LA GRINGA as a comedy. I did not find the first act to be funny at all. Neither did my fellow audience members, who barely laughed at anything until Act II.

Humor must be universal for a play to succeed in a diverse environment. I once laughed like crazy at a joke which was funny because I knew that there is no last digit for the number pi, but the joke would fall flat in audiences consisting of non-mathematicians. Similarly, LA GRINGA's humor, especially in the first act, may require detailed knowledge about Puerto Rican life and culture; according to New York Times reviewer D.J.R. Bruckner, writing on March 7, 1996, LA GRINGA garnered numerous laughs when presented in Spanish in New York. Bruckner noted that the play fit into Puerto Rican theater's "tradition of approaching serious ideas through vigorous self-mocking comedy."

It is possible that CVRep's largely non-Puerto Rican audience did not understand this tradition or other aspects of the culture well enough to find Act I funny. For whatever reason, LA GRINGA came across as a drama, rather than the comedy that the playwright intended.

The other members of the cast are Eliezer Ortiz (Monchi), who also served as dramaturg and dialect coach, and Robert Almodovar (Victor). Liana Arauz is the understudy. The rest of the production crew consists of Louise Ross (stage manager), Aalsa Lee (costume designer), Eddie Cancel (technical director, lighting designer, and lighting technician), Cricket S. Meyers (sound designer), Randy Hansen (sound mixer), Karen Goodwin (sound technician), Doug Morris (assistant stage manager and props), and Lynda Shaeps (hair and makeup).

LA GRINGA is appearing at CVRep through Sunday, March 22, 2015. Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. All performances are $45. March 12th and March 19th are "Talk Back Thursdays." CVRep is located in The Atrium, at 69930 Highway 111, Suite 116, in Rancho Mirage. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 760-296-2966, or by clicking on the link at http://cvrep.org. Box office hours are Mon-Fri from 10:30 a.m. till 2:30 p.m., and two hours prior to each performance.

CVRep's last play of the 2014-15 season will be HOLD THESE TRUTHS: THE JOURNEY OF GORDON HIRABAYASHI, by Jeanne Sakata, which will run from April 15th through May 3rd, 2015. The series of plays to be performed during the 2015-16 season is not yet finalized, although the world premiere of George Eastman's HAPPY HOUR, for which CVRep held two enthusiastically received staged readings, is one possibility. CVRep's Web site will list next season's offerings when they become available.

Photo Credit: Sal Mistretta