Founded in 1961, La Mama is the only original Off-Off Broadway venue still in operation. Created as a force for change, it remains a haven where artists can develop new works free from censorship.
It continues that mission through its involvement in the Downtown Urban Arts Festival (DUAF), which nurtures bold new writers and showcases artists who do not fit conventional categories. As part of this program, DUAF presents two very different works: Let Mezaluca Buy Your Car by Desi Moreno-Penson and Four; Interwoven by Erika Ji.
Let Mezaluca Buy Your Car opens with Joey and Caterina, a bickering couple played by Wilson Hernandez and Kathleen Guerrero. Caterina is urging Joey to sell his car. After a car accident, Caterina blames the vehicle, while Joey blames her nagging. The argument turns surreal when the car itself appears, played by Jayson Kerr. When Caterina insists that a car is just a car, it replies, “I am an American-made model. I am everything.” Joey, who believes the car “runs on cool,” has tied his identity to it. He and the 1994 Camaro launch into an anti-Latino rant, while Caterina challenges the Trump-like rhetoric, rejoicing in the vibrant colors of Latino heritage. Joey justifies the remarks by saying, “my parents told me.” Kerr embodies the car with swagger, while Hernandez portrays a man whose sense of cool depends on external things: his muscle car, his parents’ racist beliefs, and his girlfriend’s beauty. The absurd conflict continues until the car throws Caterina to the ground. As Joey comforts her, she asks him to let Mezaluca buy the car. Even then, he can only say, “I’ll think about it.” The lights fade, revealing the story as a strange romantic triangle.
Music belongs to everyone. It evokes the deepest human emotions. Four; Interwoven opens with four performers using their voices and bodies as instruments. Cooper Baldwin, Matthew Billman, Liza Kelmann, and Erika Ji combine sound and movement to explore the tensions between individuality and community. Tunes from a piano, guitar, xylophone, drum, and accordion are added. Words flashed on the screen in the rear help orient one as to the theme of each section. Through wordless songs and musical accompaniment, the players reflect on people’s relationships with loved ones and their place in society and the nation. Even when the performers move apart physically, they remain connected through sound. Music helps us transcend our earthly existence. It is music that puts us in touch with the transcendent. Ji demonstrates the power of music to express the soul. In the end, the piece encourages the audience to choose love.
At first, the pairing of Let Mezaluca Buy Your Car and Four; Interwoven may seem unusual, but both works examine relationships in strikingly different ways. The production runs eighty minutes with a fifteen-minute intermission. Together, the pieces are both entertaining and thought-provoking.
