Poetic script transfixes with mystery and magic
By Charlene Baldridge | SDUN Theater Critic
What sound does the moon make and from whence does his light emanate? Find out as Moxie Theatre presents José Rivera’s evocatively titled “References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot.”
The 2000 play is staged by Dana I. Harrell, producing director at La Jolla Playhouse, where, among others, Rivera’s “Marisol” and “Cloud Tectonics” were produced in 1992 and 1995 respectively.
Playgoers familiar with Rivera’s style know to expect a mélange of magic realism and fact. Exactly which is which is up for grabs, but one need not seek definition; one need only sit back and bathe in the poetic imagery.
Set in the desert near Barstow, Calif., the play begins with a dialogue between a sensuous woman named Cat (played by Anna Rebek) and her would-be seducer Coyote (Steven Lone). The scene is observed by the full and sensuous Moon (John Padilla), whose phases are said to exert influence on female receptivity.
As Gabriela (Jacqueline Grace Lopez) awaits the return of her husband Benito (Jorge Rodriguez) from the Persian Gulf, she is hounded by a 14-year-old neighbor boy named Martin (Apollo Blatchley), who seeks to have his first sexual encounter with her.
Apparently everyone in Barstow is hot. What is real and what is not is in the eye of the beholder as the poetry, the imagery and the reality of return vis-a-vis the marital bond are explored. Who is sympathetic and who is not fluctuates with the phases of the moon. Is the Cat character Gabriela’s real roommate, or is she merely the household cat, lost in the desert and prey to the coyote?
What a trip of a script Rivera writes, poetic and rife with humor.
The mystery and the magic are transfixing, especially as realized by these actors, both familiar and not. Lopez, who hails from Hollywood, Calif., is extraordinary and so is Rebek, also making her Moxie debut. Blatchley, a San Diegan and a veteran of ACT’s “Spring Awakening” and Lamb’s “Fiddler on the Roof,” is gauche and charming. Rodriguez, who works locally with D. Kandis Paule and was seen in ion theatre’s award-winning “Julia” is fascinatingly non-committal in the role of a plain guy caught between carnal desire and his love of what Moon describes as a body rich with dreams. Most surprising are new facets of familiar actors: Lone, seen for the first time in a sexy, brutal role, and Padilla, simply yummy as Moon.
Moxie and Harrel and company deliver the “hot” experience, enhanced by Christopher Ward’s scenic design, Alina Bokovikova’s costumes, Luke Olson’s lighting, Matt Lescault-Wood’s sound and Derrick McGee’s choreography.
“References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot”
WHERE: Moxie Theatre, 6663 El Cajon Blvd. (Rolando)
WHEN: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. through May 5
INFO: 858-598-7620
WEB: moxietheatre.com
