In a bilingual twist on mother-daughter relations, Laughs in Spanish attempts to keep the comic vibe flowing in all but a few of the play’s more thoughtful moments. The play, which opens Milwaukee Chamber’s 49th season, is extremely successful in keeping things light while also tackling some more serious subjects.
Written by Miami-based newcomer Alexis Scheer, Laughs in Spanish begins with a distraught art gallery owner, Mariana (Isa Condo-Olvera), who must deal with the theft of multiple paintings on the eve of one of the most important gallery nights of the year. At first she blames her young assistant, artist and grad student Carolina (Ashley Oviedo), for not locking up the gallery on the previous evening. Carolina is almost in tears as she swears her innocence in the theft. Her boyfriend, Juan (Arash Fakhrabadi), is also a police officer who is investigating the crime.
The play’s drama goes into hyperdrive with the arrival of the art gallery owner’s mother, Estella (Rána Roman), a well-known movie actor who brims with diva-like behavior from the moment we first see her. With a wide and knowing smile, Estella announces that she will take control of the situation to make the upcoming event successful. Most of the necessary details, however, will be dumped on Estella’s assistant Jenny (Jenna Bonofiglio).
With a smile and a resigned demeanor, Jenny tackles her new assignment. It’s clear she knows her boss almost better than the woman herself. Jenny is also excited to discover that Estella’s daughter, Mariana, is an old boarding-school friend. It isn’t long before the audience discovers that there is unfinished business between them.
With all the pieces in place, Laughs in Spanish lets loose many of the one-liners that make this play memorable. For instance, the champagne-sipping Estella claims that “the only 12 steps I know are the ones that lead down to the wine cellar.”
Estella is an ideal role for local veteran performer Rána Roman. Roman knows how to keep the spotlight on herself (as Estella would prefer) but she doesn’t take this approach to the extreme, allowing the rest of the cast opportunities to shine.
Under the able direction of Anna Skidis Vargas, Laughs in Spanish rises above its TV sitcom plot to deliver some rare moments of domestic harmony amid all the family infighting. When Mariana delivers a rather harsh assessment of her mother’s parenting abilities, for instance, Estella first responds with a deflecting comment. Then she weighs her daughter’s words more carefully, admitting her guilt for not always being available to her daughter when she was growing up.
At the time, Estella says, she consciously tried to avoid her own mother’s guilt-tripping scenes. As a child, Estella was always blamed her for the mother’s failure to pursue a singing career. Estella is proud that her own daughter, free of such limitations, became the successful businesswoman she is today.
Along with the laughs and touching moments are expressions of love, whether romantic love, filial love, or love of community. Some of the connections are obvious, such as the attraction between Ashley Oviedo (as Carolina) and Arash Fakhrabadi (as Juan). When Oviedo reveals a secret to Juan, the initial misunderstandings it triggers between them is worthy of a ticket to the play itself. There’s also a less obvious (but still tender) romance brewing between Mariana, the gallery owner, and Jenny, her mother’s assistant. Never fear; by the play’s end, everything will end for the best.
It must be noted that the play’s dialogue is liberally sprinkled with Spanish. Although understanding Spanish wouldn’t hurt, the non-Spanish speaking members of the audience will get the drift of what is happening onstage.
Supporting this blockbuster cast is a lovely, contemporary art gallery (by set designer Em Allen), with lighting by Maaz Ahmed. The costumes (by Jazmin Aurora Medina) certainly take the production up a notch. They are colorful and classy (for Estella) and more restrained in neutral tones (for Jenny, in particular). Estella whips her magic into every part of her daughter’s life, including upgrading her style for the big gallery event. In Aurora Media’s costumes, it looks like a perfect (and credible) transformation.
Composer and sound designer Matthew Tibbs sets the perfect mood with pulsing, Latin rhythms that echo throughout the production.
Milwaukee Chamber Theater is off to a promising start this season by opening with the charming, funny and antic-filled Laughs in Spanish.
