Palestine, New Mexico
The Latino comedy group, Culture Clash, have been in the public’s eye for a quarter-century now and is well-respected by audiences and critics alike. One of the strong reasons for their success is the irreverent way in which they attack social issues. Beginning with The Mission and A Bowl Full of Beings, through their more overtly political plays, Water and Power and Chavez Ravine, the trio has revitalized comedy while exploring issues that all too often remain uncovered.
But….and it’s a BIG but…co-writing and starring in their own show – apparently without supervision – has resulted in a frighteningly spectacular failure in Palestine, New Mexico, their latest, with the writing attributed to Richard Montoya. The problem is there are several plays begun and never finished in it; several serious themes that are under-thought-out and undercut by their pandering to their core audience, which expects humor at all stages. And while there is no law that says you may not have laughter with tragedy (Hamlet fails if you cannot find the humor in its four hours), there is an unwritten law that you’d better have your serious ideas all laid out for inspection before you start taking liberties with it.
The fascinating ideas they’re exploring include American Indian sovereignty, the Native American involvement with the Iraq War, AmerInd/White relationships, the commingling of NA realities and Islamic ideals, etc. But as these ideas are explored, they have been irritatingly short-changed by the low-brow, improve-styled humor. CC is justly famous for their senses of humor, and God knows, as stated above, there is room for humor underscoring serious intent, but this 85-minute play has not found a way to merge them successfully, even with the fully-professional work of their longtime director, Lisa Peterson. And if, as has been rumored, CC was playing to the expectations of their core audience, they and Peterson will have disappointed them as well as the rest of us. Perhaps it’s a failure to leave theatrical adolescence in order to find the strength that comes from maturity, but who knows?
The technical aspects of the production totally shine, however, with Rachel Hauck’s scenic execution, Christopher Acebo’s costumes and Alexander V. Nichols’ lighting and projection design. All of it supports what does work in CC’s play, as do most of the actors. The three members of Culture Clash: Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza, play pivotal characters, but it is the work of Kristen Potter, as Captain Catherine Siler, the shaken leader of an Iraq-based platoon, which helps pull together their plot. Siler has come to deliver a letter from the slain soldier to his father, Chief Birdsong (Russell Means) who flatly does not want to meet with her. The supporting actors, LaVonne Rae Andrews, Michelle Diaz, Julia Jones, Geraldine Keams, Brandon Oakes and Justin Rain (the ghost of the young soldier) all contribute mightily to what plot exists, but unhappily, what is horribly out of whack is the inability of Means – an extremely important leader in the political and social struggles of the Native American communities – to perform even the basic skills which every actor learns in Acting 101. His performance doesn’t single-handedly destroy the credibility of the play, but he stands out in the most negative way possible, which leads to the question of why this play was allowed to open, when clearly in its present state, it is not ready. Now, there’s every reason to hope that the writers can re-write and fix what doesn’t work in order to take their important ideas to a larger and longer life, but for now it’s a sad evening in the theatre.