Spain

photo borrowed from Ari Mintz without permission

Lucille Lortel Theater

I chose this based on great past experience with the Lucille Lortel theater. The themes of their plays have to do with upsetting life events and the ability of the protagonist to both deal with those events and then move past them.

In theme, Spain was no different. The central character was left by her husband for another woman. She was left to deal with the experience, alone in her apartment. Reality being harsh, she turned to extreme fantasy, idealized escapist Spain first personified by a conquistador and then as a simple, sweet field laborer.

The play was hard to follow--as it started out too simple and then quickly became too complex about three quarters of the way through. Additionally, an attempt to explain itself at the end left as many questions as answers and came across as somewhat obtuse.

At the end of the play, though, in true Lortel fashion the protagonist had triumphed over her pain and her past and was ready to move forward. She was ready to experience life on her own terms in a new way.

The most gripping theme in Spain was the struggle of the protagonist, and echoed by the similar struggle of her best friend named Diversion (played well by the graceful Veanne Cox), between gritty reality and living out risky dreams. I think that most people's dreams are a far cry from their everyday life and this play really brought out just how great that distance can be.

The redemptive qualities of the play, deep themes that were not deeply or aptly explored, some very good acting by all of the supporting characters, could not ultimately make this play into something I would ever recommend. A very weak female lead and an extremely loose script reigned last evening. While certain moments resonated, I was pretty uncomfortable for at least 60% of the time. I'm constantly looking forward to more from the Lucille Lortel theater and I won't stay away, but this was qualitatively very different from what I've seen in the past.