'La Muneca': A Powerful Christmas Story

◊◊◊◊  out of five.  90 minutes, no intermission. 

"You're sorry?  Everybody's sorry!  The whole world is sorry!"  So screams a frustrated 7 year-old homeless girl who has just been turned down for change from someone far better off than she.  It is a sadly almost cliche with scenes depicting the homeless, made all the more potent given the season.  Those words, heartbreakingly yelled by Giti Lynn, resonate in my ears a full two days later as I wrote this review.  I guess the reason behind it has as much to do with a recent incident in my life as it does her terrific performance in the moving play La Muñeca (based on a poem by Vital Aza, adapted into a play by Aldo Pantoja) being presented by Single Carrot Theatre through December 22.  You see, I uttered the "I'm sorry" to a real homeless person, not once but twice, the day before in Fells Point, knowing full well I had about 80 cents in my pocket, but was too lazy/repulsed/self-centered to give to him.  To me it was 45 minutes worth of parking time; to him it was perhaps a hot cup of coffee in a heinously cold night.  I find myself wondering, "Am I really 'sorry'?"  Probably not then - I have to admit they scare me a little - but I am now.  That is how touching this brief, family-friendly play can be. 

Directed by Brendan Ragan, who uses a variety of theatrical techniques to bring Mr. Pantoja's adaptation to life, the 90 minute play bounces pretty smoothly through its ten scenes.  Part choral reading (of translated lines of the poem), part video theatre (said lines and scene descriptions are broadcast over televisions at the sides of the stage, part musical (the three narrators sing), and part Christmas melodrama, Mr. Ragan somehow manages to keep all of these parts from being a mish-mash and creates a cohesive presentation.  He is aided by appropriately skid row-ish set and lighting design by the endlessly creative and budget conscious Joey Bromfield.  One wall of the set is dominated by a piece by graffiti artist Sethe. Unwittingly, I'll assume, the venue for this play, the Load of Fun Gallery on West North Avenue, really adds a lot to the ambience and meaning to the play.  Like many of us do with the homeless, many of us have probably driven right past this uniquely Baltimore island of culture, which is right on the outer edge of the Mount Vernon Cultural District.  No more than two or three blocks from Everyman Theatre, this once car dealership built in the early years of last century, is now a beehive of studios and performance spaces.  La Muñeca is performed on the third floor of this place, a large room with metal beams mid-floor and wooden floors that creak with the weight of decades of history.  Wisely, director and designer have left a large pane of windows uncovered so as to let the industrial/urban noise and light filter in throughout the performance.  One hopes, that should La Muñeca become an annual holiday offering, that Single Carrot would consider always staging it at this venue, even after they find a permanent home.  That's how much the space adds to the show. 

Of course, the play's the thing, and Single Carrot member Aldo Pantoja has done a wonderful job adapting the poem into a viable piece of theatre.  Lines of the poem are interspersed with scenes that play out the narrative.  His use of carefully chosen words mimics the Latin American style of simplicity that fairly drips with meaning and connotation, and heightened black and white emotions run high and are worn on the sleeves. 

La Muñeca tells the story of a homeless child named Lucia, left to fend for herself on the mean streets.  Barefoot and alone, she is battling the elements and people - some like herself, others well-off, but uncaring.  Like anyone, she longs for safety, security and a meal, but like a child, she dreams of the very special doll (la muenca) in the window of a toy shop. 

The cast does very well, playing the heightened, almost melodramatic moments with sincerity.  They never even come close to the didactic.  There are three narrators (Christine Demuth, Richard Goldberg and Aldo Pantoja), also homeless, who guide us through the story and punctuate it with Christmas carols, including a clever mix of tunes that starts out as "The 12 Days of Christmas" and includes bits of everything from "Jingle Bells" to "The Carol of the Bells."  That they do all of their numbers virtually a capella (with some assistance from Mr. Bromfield on Bass).  Mr. Pantoja, a SCT member, and his partners, local theatre regulars, all have shown an amazing versatility over the past year or so.  

Jessica Garrett, so warm and funny in The Baltimore Waltz, shows that she can play the uptight snob with equal skill, and she is particularly good when her character finally realizes the potential she has to make a difference with her wealth and position.  Genevieve de Mahy plays the unsuspecting middle-class wife of the toy store owner with an earnest honesty - she is blissfully unaware of the economic reality of her life or the lives of the less fortunate.  Karen Landry, a young local actress on the radar since her performance in As I Lay Dying at UMBC, is quite affecting as Lucia's older sister, and proves herself to be quite excellent with a very difficult physical challenge the character forces the actress to take on.

Mardee Bennett makes his Single Carrot debut as Raymundo, owner of the toyshop which features the beloved doll in its window.  He plays the harried store keeper very well.  His exasperation at having to constantly shoo away the homeless in front of the store ("Who wants to but toys with the likes of you lying in front of my store!?") is both understanding and infuriating.  But, like Ms Garrett, it is when Mr. Bennett makes the realization that his actions/inactions actually affect others, it is a sobering and enlightening moment.

Giti Lynn, like her fellow Single Carrot Company members, shows the great depth of her training and talent with this performance which is leagues from her role in Red Light Winter.  It isn't the childlike voice she adopts that really gives us the clue that she's playing a young child, it is the very specific style of movement and the wide-eyed innocence with which she views all that is happening around and to her.  It takes maybe five minutes before you forget you are watching a young woman. 

Bring Kleenex and bring the kids.  This is a live theatre piece that could stick with them for years without ever talking down to them.  And don't let the area around the venue scare you off - the entire block is bathed in daylight strength street lighting, as is the parking lot about a half block up Howard Street.  The Wednesday, December 19^th performance is a benefit for Fellowship of Lights, an organization devoted to supporting homeless youth.  The entire run will partially benefit the same organization.  Either way, you win - good theatre and a good cause.  What a great holiday message. 

(The performance, which begins at 7:30 PM, also features a staged reading of a poem by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which cleverly tells the tale of two boys with a touch of greed and a bunch of imagination.) 

PHOTOS: Courtesy of J. Buck Jabaily and Single Carrot Theatre.  TOP to BOTTOM: Giti Lynn and Karen Landry; Mardee Bennett and Giti Lynn.

 

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