Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Isaac Gomez’s solo show THE WAY SHE SPOKE stealthily explores “femicide” in Ciudad Juárez

• By drediman
• July 20, 2019
• No Comments

Kate del Castillo in Audible Theater’s production of “The Way She Spoke” by Isaac Gomez at the Minetta Lane Theatre. Photo by Joan Marcus.

This week, Isaac Gomez’s one-woman show The Way She Spoke opened Off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theatre, courtesy of Audible Theater. The play stars a sweet and sour Kate del Castillo – of Mexican telenovela fame – as a fiery Latina actress (perhaps herself?) who has been cast in a new role, one for which she has done little research and preparation. As she reads/enacts the script for the first time, both she and we the audience are plunged into the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez, where the ongoing mass homicide of women, or “femicide”, is an unfortunate reality of daily life.

The show is the third play in a week that I encountered that actively explores extreme the violence and abuse – not always physical – that continues to be inflicted on women, particularly marginalized women and women of color. Certainly, Mojada, Luis Alfaro’s Latin updating of Euripides’ “Medea” at the Public does this, as does Winter Miller’s prison drama No One Is Forgotten, which is in residence at the Rattlestick. Based on a series of interviews conducted by Mr. Gomez, The Way She Spoke perhaps hits a more sobering chord than those other works given that it’s rooted in true events. It’s also more subtle; Mr. Gomez’s play is stealthy documentary theater that takes the unassuming guise of an early rehearsal of the play itself. Indeed, only in time and in occasional but shockingly gruesome detail does it choose to document this world in which the women are expendable.

The production has been directed with a deceptively light touch by Jo Bonney, which works beautifully for the play. As the central actress, Ms. del Castillo is a formidable and naturally fierce presence. She also deals with the meta theatrical nature of Mr. Gomez’s play well, deftly portraying multiple roles (including herself!) over the course of its brisk 75-minute. She walks the fine line of giving these characters colorful vitality without falling back onto clichéd stereotypes. The Way She Spoke is a worthy addition to the constellation of excellent solo shows that Audible Theater has been assembling in recent years.

RECOMMENDED

THE WAY SHE SPOKE
Off-Broadway, Play
Audible Theater / Minetta Lane Theatre
1 hour, 15 minutes (without an intermission)
Through August 18