THEATRE REVIEW:
KPBS
AIRDATE: May 01, 2004
Look upon the ruins of a Mayan temple
and be inspired by greatness. That's how it feels when you enter the San Diego Repertory
Theatre. Design wizard Giulio Cesare Perrone has recreated a majestic edifice,
with stone carvings and an ancient ball court. When a desert scene is required,
sand streams down from the eaves. In a futuristic setting, the building is
transformed into a neo-Mayan palace, adorned with modernist abstractions of the
historic forms. This is the glorious backdrop to the world premiere of
"Earthquake Sun," the latest creation of writer/director Luis Valdez.
The acclaimed Chicano playwright, who
has broken new theatrical ground so many times, is at it again, crossing
cultures and exploring the history of the Americas. This time he's melding the
magical realism of his ancestry with the science fiction of his current
culture. All in the service of a love story that transcends time. While
teaching us a great deal about Mayan customs and ceremonies, Valdez also seems
to be confronting his mortality, concerning himself with legacies, with fathers
and sons, with what can and cannot be passed on genetically and behaviorally.
Ironically, his real-life son, Kinan Valdez, plays all the paternal roles in
the piece.
Valdez has so much to say; he seems to
be trying to squeeze it all into this one play, which takes place in three
millennia: 732 A.D. at the peak of the Mayan power; 2012, when coyotes are
still endangering illegal immigrants in ferrying them across the border. and in
a clone-filled 3312 A.D.
The central character time-travels, to
find the two lost parts of himself: his twin and his one true love. In each
scenario, each millennium, he meets -- in different guises -- his brother, his
father, his mate and himself. He is the solar lord Jaguar Kan, by turns a
warrior, an immigrant-smuggler, a player of the ancient (and future)
hip-swiveling game of pitz-ball. The play's structure is more complex than
seems necessary to tell the tale. Valdez the writer needs more editing input
from Valdez the director. The ultimate message here seems to be Follow your
heart, not your head. And let the next generation live and reproduce as it
will; technological advances notwithstanding, one can't really clone oneself
after all.
Valdez has marshaled all his forces to
create these worlds -- a stellar design team, esteemed choreographer John
Malashock as movement coach and a chameleon cast, with especially captivating
performances by Linda Castro, Kinan Valdez and Sandra Ruiz.
One has to see a world premiere as
Version 1.0, with many upgrades to follow. Valdez still has time, if not to
clone himself, then to shape his legacy to last, as he would say, through the zuvuyas
of time.
©2004 Patté Productions Inc.