Review
Beauty of the Father
at the Manhattan Theatre Club
City Center -Stage II
February 2, 2006
Morgan Wycks
mwycks@nyconstage.org
When Nilo Cruz won the Pulitzer Prize for Anna in the Tropics, many people couldn't grasp it especially when viewing the Broadway production which had a case of some miscasting and obtuse direction. The same case could be made for the current Cruz play, Beauty of the Father, where three of the five roles are mishandled thus negating not only the title of the play but its point as well.
After the death of her mother, Marina (Elizabeth Rodriguez) reconnects with her long ago estranged father, Emiliano (Ritchie Coster). Though aware of her father's bisexuality, she still has trouble reconciling it and her ostensible abandonment by him. Emiliano is an artist currently involved with a young male, Karim (Pedro Pascal), who has sought refuge from Morocco in Emiliano's home, and with a woman of equal age, Paquita (Priscilla Lopez) who is a free and easy soul finding happiness by just going with the flow. Add into the mix the ghost of Federico Garcia Lorca (Oscar Isaac), the homosexual writer and artist slain for his politics, whom only Emiliano can see and hear, the ingredients are ready for an absorbing and intriguing play about art, relationships and hope. Alas, the delicacy of Mr. Cruz's lyricism and his themes gets mangled in Michael Greif's misguidance of the actors. Although all the fault is not Mr. Greif's. Mr. Cruz asks for a leap of faith when Marina and Karim almost instantaneously fall for each other, the basis for the fulminating tensions and ultimate explosion of the story.
Mr. Coster plays into Emiliano's problems instead of hiding them which is crucial for the two young adults accepting him. He ends up sounding two notes, anger and nonchalance. Ms. Rodriguez and Mr. Pascal, both capable actors, never seem to take in anyone else on stage especially each other. Mr. Isaac possesses a casually endearing presence and a wry approach to Lorca which in some places may be too wry. But then a ghost with hindsight certainly has that right. Ms. Lopez gets Paquita just right. One wishes she had more to do.
If at some time Mr. Cruz is allowed the right cast with a director who understands the writer's nuances, which are as important, if not more so, than the story, he might be considered an equal of Tennessee Williams.
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