Listen & Be Heard Weekly Archives

Solano College Theatre serves up another play directed by Hector Correa. This time he is at the helm of The House of Ramon Iglesia, by Academy award nominated writer, Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Dairies). The play seems to strike a chord within the Hispanic community, but, while the story should be universal in its appeal, this production fails to fully touch the heart.

The play is largely autobiographical, and tells the story of a Puerto Rican family and the parents? decision to return to their homeland. Sibling squabbles, parental failings, dealing with neighbors, changing loyalties, and health issues are just a few of the stressors explored in this sometimes funny but uneven play.

Thursday?s performance included a question and answer session with the author and director of the show. The questions from audience members reflected a connection made by some in the audience, as they seemed to relate to the Puerto Rican (Hispanic) family dynamics. Unfortunately, this reviewer did not feel drawn into the story, and, with the profound exception of Carmalita Shreve (Dolores Iglesia), the acting was lacking in depth. Most lines were delivered as if an increase in volume equated to strong emotion. A bit more subtlety would have been refreshing and would have highlighted the universal emotions the author reveals. Easy choices were made by the company, resulting in a predictable and soap-opera-ish play.

The bright spot in this production is Carmalita Shreve (Dead Man Walking). She manages to imbue her character with passion that shone through the tears in her eyes and the expressions on her face. I was able to understand all of her words, even with the heavy accent she maintained throughout the play. In her body language and vocal inflections, she embodied the conflicted and emotionally torn mother of the family. Her performance is the best reason to see this production.

Ruben Oriol-Rivera (Julio) has a nice presence on stage, but he spoke so rapidly at the beginning of the play that I found it impossible to understand the dialogue. This did not continue throughout the play, but the humor of the opening scene was lost, as well as the hook to care about the story. His scene with Justin Hernandez (Javier) that showed the two brothers dealing with his imminent departure to Marine boot camp should have been poignant and touching, but lacked depth. All the words were there, the actions seemed appropriate, but the depth of feeling between the two brothers was missing. This is one scene that could have explored the sub-text, and instead lines were delivered with no conflict between what they were saying, and what they were feeling. A missed opportunity.

The set was designed by Kate Boyd. While it was appropriately configured and decorated, it needed two things to improve it: stability and facing flats. Often the doors were slammed in the heat of family arguments. It looked as if the flats were going to fall right in front of the audience and the wobbling walls were a distraction. Facing flats behind the doors would have been a nice thing, especially when the front door opened and besides the black curtains, a stack of lumber was visible to the audience. Audiences have no problem with suspension of disbelief, but this was a major distraction. Nothing like screaming ?this is a set.?

[tag]The House of Ramon Iglesia[/tag] will play through 4 March at the Harbor Theatre in Suisun City. While it could be a more fully realized production, it tells an interesting story, and some of the more physical bits brought gasps from the audience. To see this production, look for Solano College Theatre at their web site: www.solano.edu.

[tags]theatre review[/tags]