Despite Boston's notorious reputation for never finishing construction projects, the city has managed to complete a brand new, sparkling theater in the South End. Located next to the Boston Center for the Arts on Tremont St., the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion houses two new stages - a welcomed addition to the small but growing Boston theater scene.
For its inaugural theatrical debut, the Huntington Theatre Company chose local playwright/actress Melinda Lopez's new play "Sonia Flew" to initiate the space.
"Sonia Flew" is a story of migration and trans-nationalism in two very separate historical and geographical settings. The first act centers on Sonia's contemporary American family in their Minneapolis home, while the second act takes place in 1961 during her childhood in Havana, Cuba.
In each act, the parents of the family are confronted with a dilemma caused by the political situation: namely, that of losing their children to their government. Similarly, the children face a crisis in leaving their parents and so Lopez asks her audience to consider: "What do you owe your children, your parents, your country?" Of course, there are no simple answers.
Lopez's characters are well-developed and the story's conflicts are as real as they are moving, but, ultimately, the play is still somewhat of a work-in-progress. Since the two acts are so diverse in setting - and also placed chronologically out of order - the thematic parallels need to be drawn more clearly between the two outwardly separate stories.
Surprisingly, the first half of the play set in the contemporary moment has less of an emotional impact than the latter. Even though the second act is set in Cuba, in a country and time unfamiliar to many, what the characters are fighting so desperately for is much better understood. When the audience sees the Cuban parents make the decision to send their child alone to a foreign country, not knowing when they will see her again, the heart of every audience member drops from the weight of the choice.
This may explain why Lopez decided to arrange the acts the way she did. She does, however, bring back the contemporary family for one last scene at the play's conclusion. But, one has to wonder if anything is actually gained from this last glimpse into their lives, or if Lopez's ultimate sentiment would have been more effective without it.
If the rest of the script more ably connected the parallel ideas and meanings of the bifurcated story, this tagged-on conclusion would probably be unnecessary.
As the script requires the audience to transition from America 2001 to Cuba 1961, it also demands that all the actors play two roles. To make such a transition, the writing and the direction need to make it more clear to the audience why the jump is necessary as well as provide a better portal as to how the two family dramas connect beyond the shared main character of Sonia(Carmen Roman/Amelia Alveraz). Certainly, this shift would be a good starting point for revision.
In helping the audience to make the transition, the set design of Adam Stockhausen proves to be the most effective element. Two separate
housing sets come out from the stage's backdrop, one for the first act and one for the second, having the effect of immediately bringing the audience into the visual world of the household.
Overall, the cast does a superb job in this character-driven play. With the help of Martin's undetectable direction (a compliment to him), they construct complex and intriguing stage personas. The only fault comes from an initial overzealousness apparent in each act which leaves the actors lacking room to build up to their respective climaxes.
As the older Sonia, Carmen Roman delivers a powerhouse performance as the mother whose internal conflict disrupts her family's suburban routine. In the second act, she transforms into the housekeeper Marta who supports the leading lady of the house, Zabryna Guevara who plays Sonia's mother (Pilar). Guevara demonstrates a great balance in her performance, especially considering that her character must make the ultimate sacrifices as a wife and a mother.
Will LeBow makes the most impressive transition from the Jewish grandfather in the first act to the Cuban father in the second. His style and poise compose a delightful stage presence. Opposite LeBow, Jeremiah Kissel shines initially in his portrayal of Daniel, Sonia's Jewish husband, proving to be one of the best characters to hit the Boston stage in a while, but his other role, Tito, leaves a good deal to be desired.
As for the children, actors Amelia Alvarez and Ivan Quintanilla both put in very good performances in the first act creating a very palpable brother-sister relationship. Unfortunately, the second act does not treat them as kindly. Their characters are not really different from the first act and they participate in the most unfortunate scene of the play: a teenage romance between Cuban rebels pathetically singing Chubby Checker's "Lets do the twist."
