'Marisol' finds universality in individual emotions

By Boomie Aglietti

Discussing his writing at the Berkeley Master's Tea on Thurs., Feb. 12, playwright Jose Rivera explained that his creative process involves the subconscious interweaving of people and episodes familiar to his own experience. The connections between such elements form the soul of Marisol, the Dramat's Spring Experimental Production. Rivera's play--complex and sometimes confusing--embodies his anxiety about the complicated nature of modern life and the breakdown of social interaction.

COURTESY JEN ROGIEN 'Marisol' depicts the diversity of emotional stress experienced by members of the urban world

Set in New York, Marisol deals with the identity crises of a diverse group of the city's inhabitants. At the center is Marisol Perez (Maiya Murphy, CC '99), a young adult living in a dangerous Bronx neighborhood who defends herself with the knife she keeps under her pillow. After a man with a golf club (Reginald Austin II, BK '01) attacks her on the subway, Marisol rushes to her apartment, only to find that her guardian angel (Heather McGhee, MC '01) is departing to fight a war against God. Without the angel's protection, Marisol is unable to understand the world. A deluded vagrant (Austin) then harasses Marisol and her co-worker, June (Marissa Matarazzo, SM '99), at their office, and the two women seek safety in June's Brooklyn residence. There, Marisol meets June's mentally unstable brother, Lenny (Stephen Aleman, PC '98). A heated sibling argument culminates in June's kicking Lenny out onto the street, and the rest of the play chronicles the crises in perception and understanding that each character must face.

The greatest strength of the performance lies in its ability to capture the specific anxieties which never cease to plague the characters. Though at times these characters bemoan a broad range of social ills, including pollution, crack-dealing, and Nazi youth, their essential struggle to comprehend themselves and their environment remains constant. It is in his treatment of this struggle that director Benjamin Mazzotta, BK '98, finds and skillfully conveys the heart of the play. His actors are generally successful in communicating emotional experiences (such as the fear of being alone) that are central to self-understanding. One of the most powerful scenes in the play occurs when Lenny tracks Mari-sol down at her apartment, attempting to unite with her against the overwhelming chaos of the urban world. Mutual mistrust hangs thick as Marisol brandishes her knife against the unwelcome, golf-club-wielding Lenny. He offers to be her guardian angel, and she seems close to submitting. She declares, however, that she will only consent if he leads her to June (whom he has bludgeoned with his club in the previous sequence). Lenny, unhappy that Marisol does not love him, attempts to rape her, claiming finally that he just "wants to be treated like a human being for once." This display of hope mixed with caution rings with undeniable truth.

For the most part, the characters express their anxiety with superb attention to the deep emotional tension of their individual psyches. Aleman's portrayal of Lenny's child-like insecurity is convincing beyond measure and wholly enrapturing. His grief over giving birth to a still-born child commands incredible pathos; the audience feels the significance of his failure at motherhood and his resulting interior collapse. Murphy is strong as well, particularly in her dealings with the odd characters she runs into on the street. She arrives at a beautiful moment of shared understanding with a homeless man in a wheelchair; their connection is embodied by their simultaneous use of the same word to describe the experience of communicating with a guardian angel. Not to be overlooked is Amy Herzog, CC '00, who executes the role of a fur-wearing woman with great truthfulness (credit Mazzotta with a splendid directorial choice). Herzog's character neatly complements Marisol, figured as a kind of ruined imitation.

The set design of Zak Cushing, BK '00, effectively establishes a New York, brick-and-graffiti reality that allows characters such as Angel and Lenny to transcend physical space, resulting in a pleasant surrealism. Music composer Quiara Hudes, TC '99, adds a sincere, colorful touch to the show, imbuing particular scenes with wailing sounds of urban complexity.

Although it is ultimately difficult to fully comprehend Marisol, the Dramat's production of Rivera's complicated drama is solid, offering an artistically appealing and tangibly truthful interpretation of human experience.

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