{"id":246606,"date":"2013-10-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-11T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/an-uncommon-play\/"},"modified":"2013-10-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-10-11T07:00:00","slug":"an-uncommon-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/an-uncommon-play\/","title":{"rendered":"An uncommon play"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong><\/strong>Grief, anger & innocence all explored in Mo\u2019olelo\u2019s latest<\/p>\n

Por Charlene Baldridge | Cr\u00edtico de Teatro SDUN<\/p>\n

Extraordinary Latina actor Iliana Carter, a 2004 graduate of UCLA\u2019s theater arts program, plays all seven characters in Jessica Dickey\u2019s \u201cThe Amish Project,\u201d produced by Mo\u2019olelo Performing Arts Company through Oct. 20.<\/p>\n

Chief among those characters is a 6-year-old victim of the shooting rampage that evoked this extraordinary play. Playwright Dickey\u2019s fictional work was inspired by the 2006 West Nickel Mines School shooting in which a 33-year-old man shot 10 Amish schoolchildren, five of whom perished.<\/p>\n

\"Iliana<\/a>
Iliana Carter (Photo by Crissy Pascual \/ Infinite Media Works)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The shooter committed suicide when the police arrived, leaving behind a widow and three children. Shortly thereafter, the Amish community reached out to the shooter\u2019s family with compassion and forgiveness. Nationwide, their peaceful response elicited almost as much ink as the shooting itself.<\/p>\n

Dickey\u2019s non-linear play explores issues surrounding grief, anger, innocence and forgiveness through the feelings of numerous people, including Velda, the oblivious, innocent child; Anna, Velda\u2019s 14-year-old sister; Bill North, a professor called upon to explain Amish culture at a press conference following the massacre; America, an unwed, pregnant grocery-store clerk; shooter Eddie Stuckey; and Stuckey\u2019s worldly widow, Carol.<\/p>\n

The text ranges from poetic to crass, depending upon who\u2019s talking; characters come and go with changes of facial expression and body language. Carter makes each apparent.<\/p>\n

Once you become accustomed to Anna\u2019s oddly inflected diction, you are fit to sail along with the inexorable tale. The adorable nature and beauty of this child character broke my heart, but the shooter spoke the poetry I took home as he mused on the nature of intuition:<\/p>\n

\u201csome kind of Somethin\u2019 that\u2019s out there. \/ But I\u2019ve always thought that the real magic happens on the other side\u2026\/ in the places we can\u2019t be, \/ the places that are protected from us\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Amish Project\u201d is yet another piece of complex, important and timely theater, perfect for Mo\u2019olelo, especially as underscored by Carter\u2019s considerable ability, the imagination of director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, and upheld by the creative team.<\/p>\n

The design works excellently and subtly to support the actor. David F. Weiner, who created the \u201cwow\u201d set for \u201cExtraordinary Chambers,\u201d creates a clean, clear setting for \u201cThe Amish Project,\u201d kind of an all-purpose schoolhouse with elements of the cosmos built in.<\/p>\n

Jeannie Galioto clothes Carter in traditional Amish dress. The chalkboard on which Carter\u2019s Velda draws stick figures is amplified in the floor, where her childish recitation, drawings and naming of names adds to the play\u2019s sad, disturbing and peaceful climax.<\/p>\n

Timothy Nottage must be mentioned for his design of the props. Jason Bieber provides lighting and costume designer Jeannie Galioto and sound designer Nicholas Drashner uphold Sonnenberg\u2019s images as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Amish Project\u201d<\/strong>
\nWHERE: Mo\u2019olelo Performing Arts Company at 10th Avenue Theatre, 930 10th Ave. (Downtown)<\/strong>
\nWHEN: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. through Oct. 20.<\/strong>
\nINFO: 619-342-7395<\/strong>
\nWEB: moolelo.net<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grief, anger & innocence all explored in Mo\u2019olelo\u2019s latest By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN Theater Critic Extraordinary Latina actor Iliana Carter, a 2004 graduate of UCLA\u2019s theater arts program, plays all seven characters in Jessica Dickey\u2019s \u201cThe Amish Project,\u201d produced by Mo\u2019olelo Performing Arts Company through Oct. 20.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":246607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"An uncommon play","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}