The Coffee Trees: Not Enough Caffeine

David Mamet said once (in the forward to his translation of The Cherry Orchard) that the title of that play is a flag of convenience, and no one really cares about the titular orchard itself.  Arthur Giron's The Coffee Trees wisely dispenses with concern about the fate of the trees, instead evoking danger and impending doom through historical fact.  His adaptation takes place on a Guatemalan coffee plantation following the country's 35-year civil war between communist guerilla forces and conservative landowners.  It's not so much a straight adaptation; motifs and characters from The Cherry Orchard are reflected and distorted as in a funhouse mirror.

Elena Reyes de Escalante (Christine Farrell) is coming home to Guatemala.  Her brother Antonio (Chris Ceraso) is drunk and his niece Barbara (Elizabeth A. Davis) and the servant Bombi (Annie Henk) are getting him ready, even though he's broken into the schoolroom of Elena's dead son, which has been kept pristine in his memory.  Barbara is on edge since she was terrorized by guerillas that morning.  Bombi is in love with The Schoolmaster (Victor Truro), who has just been released from prison.  Lopez (Teddy Cañez) arrives to greet Elena as well.  She comes, with her other daughter Anita (Veronica Matta) as well as a semi-famous American ex-soccer player who they picked up in Paris, named Manny (Steven Pounders), who promptly passes out due to the high altitude, and spends most of the first scene unconscious and mumbling.  Meanwhile, Antonio (the only doctor around) has dug some bullets out of one of the Guerillas, a Comandante X (Dan Domingues).  Unfortunately, he saw the Comandante's face, and therefore must leave the country or be killed, so he won't reveal CX's identity to the authorities.  Elena, suspecting that CX is the Guerilla who killed her son, hatches a plan to kill CX, and asks for him to be sent to her.  Meanwhile, Manny and Barbara have fallen quickly in love, and she takes him out into the wilderness for a mystical love journey.

The plot diverges greatly from Chekhov here, and it would be irresponsible of me to continue with the synopsis, as a few of the twists and turns are meant to be surprising (though one was clearly foreshadowed).

The play is often very clever and interesting.  The language is beautiful and evocative, and the actors savor it.  The theme of continuity vs. chaos comes through clearly; the parallels to Chekhov's work are intriguing.  However, much of the play seems inorganic, with non sequiturs dropping from the characters' mouths without clear motivation.  Some of what seems to be magical realism is never completely realized.  Certain plot points are raised and then dropped again without explanation, or sometimes only hinted at.

The cast is mixed- Christine Farrell, as Elena, is every inch the grande dame she should be, and is quite fine in the dramatic parts of the play, though she seems to falter when it comes to her character's more comic lines.  Dan Domingues, as the handsome and "mysterious" Comandante X, is full of dashing vigor.  Annie Henk is hilarious as Bombi, often garnering laughs with her facial expressions alone.  Teddy Cañez smolders as Lopez, bristling with barely-contained virility. Steven Pounders plays Manny as a wide-eyed naïf, insanely glad-humored and enthralled by everything he encounters- he almost seems retarded at times, rather like Clara in The Light in the Piazza.  Elizabeth A. Davis has not much to do as Barbara, but is a game presence reacting to all the craziness about her (she also plays Varya in Resonance's The Cherry Orchard, running in rep).  Veronica Matta has even less to do other than be lovely.  Chris Ceraso commits fully to Antonio, no matter what his unusual circumstances, which vary widely from scene to scene (he also is in The Cherry Orchard, as Gaev).  Victor Truro is rather quiet and strange in the underwritten role of The Schoolmaster.

Resonance Ensemble's production is elegant and sumptuous, and Dr. Marion Castleberry's direction rarely falters.  Scenic design by Dustin O'Neill is especially beautiful.  It's worth a look; I'm disappointed I won't be able to catch their Cherry Orchard.

Scheduled September 28 through October 21 at Theatre Row's Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street) - THE COFFEE TREES and THE CHERRY ORCHARD run in repertory Tuesdays at 7pm, Wednesdays through Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm & 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm & 7pm (please note there will be no 2pm performance on Saturday, September 29 or Sunday, September 30; there will be no 7pm performance on Sunday, October 21; and there will be an added 2pm student matinee on Wednesday, October 17).

Tickets are $18 and can be reserved by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or on-line at www.ticketcentral.com. For additional details, please visit www.resonanceensemble.org.

Photo Caption (left to right):
1. Chris Ceraso (as Antonio Reyes), Steven Pounders (as Manny), and Veronica Matta (as Anita)
2. Christine Farrell (as Elena Reyes de Escalante), Dan Domingues (as Comandante X), and Chris Ceraso (as Antonio Reyes)
3. Chris Ceraso (as Antonio Reyes) and Elizabeth A. Davis (as Barbara)

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