`14' COUNTS THE WAYS OF THE BORDER.Byline: Katherine Karlin Correspondent STAGED by the East L.A. Rep, ``14,'' is a series of monologues based on interviews conducted by playwright Jose Casas in the wake of a borderland bor·der·land n. 1. a. Land located on or near a frontier. b. The fringe: a shadowy figure who lived on the borderland of the drug scene. 2. tragedy. In May 2001, 14 Mexican immigrants died in the parched parch v. parched, parch·ing, parch·es v.tr. 1. To make extremely dry, especially by exposure to heat: The midsummer sun parched the earth. Arizona desert. For Casas, the event is a jumping-off point Noun 1. jumping-off point - a beginning from which an enterprise is launched; "he uses other people's ideas as a springboard for his own"; "reality provides the jumping-off point for his illusions"; "the point of departure of international comparison cannot be an to investigate the complexities of relationships between Mexicans, Chicanos and Anglos who live and work in Arizona. This kind of theater was made popular by Anna Deavere Smith For other persons of the same name, see Anna Smith. Anna Deavere Smith (born September 18, 1950, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an African American actress, playwright, and professor in the Department of Performance Studies at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. , whose ``Twilight: Los Angeles 1992'' similarly peered into the lives of a cross-section of Angelenos after the Rodney King riots. Like Smith, Casas avoids pat answers, preferring to raise difficult questions by presenting a collection of flawed, striving, living human beings. In Casas' Arizona there are no good guys and bad guys, and those who refuse to accommodate the gray areas are destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. to be disappointed. Even the rancher, who insists he's not a vigilante vigilante n. someone who takes the law into his/her own hands by trying and/or punishing another person without any legal authority. In the 1800s groups of vigilantes dispensed "frontier justice" by holding trials of accused horse-thieves, rustlers and shooters, and because he ``won't shoot at one during the day. Night's a different story,'' comes across not as a monster but as a flesh-and-blood man. Similarly, a chic Latina magazine editor is dismayed by how out of touch with her readership she has become; an actor changes his name so that he won't be typecast in drug dealer roles; a powerful Latino politician stumps against bilingual education. Two pieces are performed entirely and unapologetically in Spanish. And in the play's most powerful monologue, a young Mexicana woman relates how her family was torn apart by her husband's decision to join the border patrol. Unfortunately, in the performance under review, one of the cast members was stricken with laryngitis laryngitis, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the voice box, or larynx, usually accompanied by hoarseness, sore throat, and coughing. Acute laryngitis is often a secondary bacterial infection triggered by infecting agents causing such illnesses as colds, , and the play was truncated to ``11.'' But the remaining young ensemble: Brenda Banda, Juan E. Carrillo and Seph Wise soldiered on under Jesus A. Reyes' simple and elegant staging. 14 - Three stars Where: La Casa Del Mexicano Theater, 2900 Calle Pedro Infante, Los Angeles. When: 8 tonight, 2 p.m. Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday; through July 31. Tickets: $12. (323) 788-3880; www.eastlarep.com. In a nutshell: Jose Casas poses the tough questions in this provocative play. |
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