Theater review: La Llorona, a Love Story at Sanders Theatre in Fort Worth

by Mandy Rausch of John Garcia's The Column

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La Llorona is a refreshing and interesting piece of theatre that is not to be missed.

There are many stories surrounding the Hispanic legend of La Llorona (Spanish for "the crying woman"), but all of them describe her killing her children as a result of being mistreated by a man. One specific story of this wretched woman is more politically-based than the others.

This particular legend is of La Malinche, an Aztec girl who is sold into slavery to the Mayans. She becomes impregnated by the explorer Cortés while he is on his conquests for new territory for Spain, and she gives birth to twins. La Malinche realizes Cortés has plans to return to Spain with her sons, and she prays to her gods for help. One of the gods appears to her and tells her that if she allows Cortés to take her sons, one of them will return and destroy her people. The night before Cortés is to leave, La Malinche steals her sons and tries to escape with them. Cortés's soldiers discover her and chase after her. When they arrive at the lake that Mexico City now rests on, La Malinche becomes surrounded by the soldiers, pulls out a dagger and stabs her babies in the heart. Until and beyond her death, she is said to be seen and heard near the lake, always weeping for her children and crying out for them.

It is this theme of conquest that dominates the storyline of the play La Llorona, a Love Story, which is currently being produced (through March 21) at the Sanders Theatre in Fort Worth by Amphibian Stage Productions.

The story revolves around two very different couples and the differences in their cultures, beliefs and values. A Mexican couple, Carlos and Irma, are expecting a child and, due to their lingering and impending financial woes, must become landlords in their own home and rent their house out to an American couple, Jeffrey and Liz. Jeffrey and Liz have moved to Mexico because Jeffrey's employer, a chain Mexican-food restaurant, has decided to expand into Mexico. The two women, while very different in their lifestyles and cultures, begin to cultivate a friendship, largely due to their mutual desire to have children. Irma gives birth to a baby shortly after the Americans' arrival, and Liz becomes pregnant very soon after. The women bond over the sharing of Mexican traditions to keep the Liz's baby safe and healthy, much to the annoyance of their respective husbands. Staunch traditionalism, pride, and long-bred racism keep a firm wall between Jeffrey and Carlos, and both urge their wives not to blur the line between tenant and landlord.

A strange circumstance surrounding the birth of Carlos and Irma's baby only enhances Jeffrey's feeling that the traditions and superstitions of the Mexican culture will ultimately cause harm to his wife and family. His insistence upon keeping firm boundaries leads him to require Liz to wear a blindfold throughout her pregnancy any time she is in the presence of Irma or Carlos. Meanwhile, Jeffrey's job situation suffers, and his stress and frustration with the Mexican people builds at an alarming rate. Carlos and Irma's financial woes reach a critical point when Carlos, a brilliant architect, cannot even maintain a job as a waiter in the current economy. The two men are forced to overcome their pride and grudgingly seek help from one another.

Part of the title of this play is "A Love Story," and love is one of the strongest emotions felt in this play, even more so than frustration, racism, blindness (both literal and figurative) and intolerance. The love between Carlos and Irma is palpable, due to moving performances by Nicholas Urda and Caroline Tamas. Urda's Carlos is proud of his heritage and the successes of his family, and the frustration he feels as he battles his pride and his need to take care of his wife and baby daughter is wonderfully understated. The conflict is always simmering under the surface, but Urda never lets it boil over to become an angry and shouting, one-dimensional performance. Tamas, a beautiful woman with long, curly hair and a soft, musical accent, is the perfect balance to Urda. Irma is a well-educated woman with strong faith and belief in Mexican superstitions, and Tamas makes what could seem silly and stereotypical very charming. Her calm rationality is the perfect balance to her husband's conflicting emotions. Tamas and Urda work brilliantly together.

Jeffrey and Liz's relationship lacks the deep understanding and balance of their landlords' relationship. Jeffrey, played by Jonathan Fielding, is a workaholic who spends more time on the telephone working out kinks in the company's expansion plan than he does tending to his wife. Fielding also does an exemplary job of still convincing the audience that, despite his failings at being able to make the best decisions regarding his wife's needs, he does in fact love her very much and wants to make her happy – at any cost. Jeffrey is easily the "villain," and is rarely likable, but due to Fielding's performance it is almost conceivable to feel sympathy for him, despite his infuriating behavior.

Liz, played by Elizabeth Mason, a tall, gorgeous redhead, has the most difficult journey to make in the piece. Mason's arc is quite an admirable one as she goes from hard-working career woman to being thrust into a completely different culture and lifestyle when the couple moves to Mexico. Once she finally becomes pregnant (it is mentioned early on that the couple has had difficulty conceiving), she begins to thrive and becomes much closer to Irma, even relying on some of the Mexican woman's superstitions to determine the sex of the baby and find ways to ensure its health. It is easy to feel her frustration and fear as she is forced to sit alone in the house blindfolded at her husband's request. She begins to hear things – most unsettling of which is the song of La Llorona and the woman's weeping. When problems arise in the pregnancy, Mason's overwhelming sadness and mental breakdown is heartbreaking.

While the phrase "One thing leads to another..." is incredibly frustrating and general, it would be a crime to give away any more information and potentially ruin the power of this magnificent play. The acting by all four performers is some of the best currently in the area, and it is a rare treat to see such a solid cast without one single flaw.

Part of the power of the play comes from the technical aspects of the production. The black box setting of the Sanders Theatre is expertly turned into a beautiful, modern Mexican living and dining room by set designer John Aaron Bell. There are traditional Mexican elements here and there, and the tiled floor is an especially beautiful touch. There are tall windows with long, billowing curtains that are used in a wonderfully creepy, windblown effect when the cries of La Llorona are heard.

The lighting design by Aaron Lentz is beautiful. Lentz expertly creates different times of day with slight but effective changes in the lighting, and the moods created help the play build to its climax. Mood is also enhanced and foreshadowed by the creative sound design by David Lanza. As the play begins, whispering sounds of despair and the increasingly loud crying of a woman builds until Carlos runs into the room, having been awakened in the middle of the night by the sounds of the spirit La Llorona. Each scene change is accompanied by traditional Mexican music, ranging from the upbeat to the melancholy as the story unfolds and progresses.

Susan Austin's costume design is simple and elegant. The men are well-dressed and the women both wear clothing appropriate for their respective characters. The biggest change is seen in the Elizabeth Mason's costumes, from put-together career woman to a pregnant woman beginning to embrace the culture around her.

The real star of this production is director Tlaloc Rivas. The staging is fluid and natural, and though the audience is on two sides of the stage (forming a right angle to the stage), the actors are never forced to completely face the audience on either side. At times, they are even interacting with their backs to the audience, giving the audience a feeling that, rather than being performed to, they are looking into the private lives of these two families. The pacing is excellent, even when the story seems to drag in its ascent to the climax, and there is never a lull in intensity even when there is little action onstage. The actors move in and out of scenes seamlessly and efficiently when they are resetting scenes, and bringing on props or set pieces is never distracting or intrusive.

La Llorona, a Love Story is a powerful and moving play, well put together, and expertly acted. The fact that it is based upon such an interesting and macabre Mexican legend only makes the story more powerful in its themes. It is a refreshing and interesting piece of theatre that is not to be missed!

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