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Carlos Morton: The play takes place on the porch of a nursing home in Wichita, Kansas where Carmela (Denise Blasor) an elderly Latina woman and Joaquin (Sal Lopez), a Latino man, strike up a conversation. They are complete opposites, an odd couple, claiming to be in the nursing home only "temporarily" while their respective children find them a place to live. Carmen is a puertorriqueña and Joaquin a mexicano and Spanish brings them together, but also distinguishes them apart because of "cultural and language" differences.
Grzegorz Welizarowicz: In the post-performance discussion, author Lina Gallegos said the show was conceived with two specific actors (Miriam Cruz, an actress from New York, and Los Angeles actor Pete Leal) who represented the Riqueño-Mexicano richness she wanted to explore. So, this is an actors' play, designed as a showcase of actors' skills, and Blasor and Lopez were extraordinary. Both are still quite young, perhaps in their mid-50s, so they had to stylize their acting to convey age. I especially liked Sal Lopez's interpretation. Lopez was exuberant and achieved a poetic yet dynamic balance between his protagonist's vitality of spirit and weak flesh. Jorge Huerta, who moderated the post-show discussion, said that people at age 70 do not move that way, that Lopez exaggerated his age but then we agreed that the character already had two heart attacks. Lopez achieved that softness which came through in his delicate gestures, his micro steps and shuffles, and charming smiles. Denise Blasor, on the other hand, played with a more limited palette. She was usually seated and restrained in mimicry with a number of happy moments expressed in more subtle facial expressions. All in all the movement and choreography was mostly graceful, funny, and light.
CM: Yes, I agree the acting was superb, and it wasn't all comedy. Carmela is depressed because of her medical condition and Joaquin has had several heart attacks. She's muted but he's an extrovert who cracks jokes and playfully tries to seduce her. What did you think of the directing and production values?
GW: Blasor, as director, did an excellent job in her actors' use of space and in foregrounding certain elements of the dramatic text and the poetic purpose of the author. The theme of temporality and...