Playwright Josefina López (seated on right) and director Corky Dominguez with the cast of An Enemy of the Pueblo, now playing through November 12 at CASA 0101, 2102 East First Street in Boyle Heights. Photo by Ed Krieger.
It is not uncommon for modern playwrights to take classic plays and adapt them to current circumstances. It happens all the time. Luis Alfaro is famous for his reworking of Greek tragedies turning Sophocles’ Electra into Electricidad, Oedipus Rex into Oedipus el Rey and Euripedes’ Medea into Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles. Playwright Josefina López, justly famous for her breakout play Real Women Have Curves, has taken inspiration from Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, changing one word that shifts the story of the play from frosty Norway to the warmth of a Mexican village called Milagros (miracles in English) with An Enemy of the Pueblo. She gives the tale of public corruption a feminist spin by making the hero a woman, a curandera (shaman woman) named Magdalena Del Rio (played with charismatic passion by Zilah Mendoza). In Ibsen’s original play, a local doctor stirs up a storm when he discovers that a local tannery has polluted his town’s health baths. In trying to do the right thing by revealing the ecological damage, he runs into political and popular opposition, essentially ruining his peaceful life.
(l. to r.) Zilah Mendoza in the world premiere production of Josefina López’ new play, An Enemy of the Pueblo, directed by Corky Dominguez, now playing through November 12 at CASA 0101, 2102 East First Street in Boyle Heights. Photo by Ed Krieger.
In Ms. Lopez’ play, Magda is the small town’s surrogate doctor and psychic, a powerful person who can heal the sick, deliver babies, and, when necessary, destroy the wicked. A hard drinker, she swills tequila, sometimes spraying it from her mouth as a sort of shamanistic ritual. She has reason to drink. Her husband (Javier Ronceros), murdered by a local bad guy name El Sapo (The Frog), is now a ghost, a phantom who refuses to go into the light. The vengeful Magda dispatched the nasty El Sapo (Paul Renteria) with her otherworldly powers, and now he, desperately wanting to be done with this twilight life, is demanding to be released from this terrestrial bondage. Together these two masculine ghosts are yin and yang. There are good and sufficient reasons for this spectral impasse that are best revealed by seeing the play. Magda’s daughter, Petra (Laura Bravatti), has a husband, Arturo (Joshua Nuñez), who is away working in Los Angeles, and has a daughter, Clarita (Angiee Lombana), who is blessed (or cursed) with her grandmother’s shamanistic skills.
(l. to r.) Javier Ronceros (Ghost of Eugenio), Zilah Mendoza (Magdalena “Magda” Del Rio) and Paul Renteria (Ghost of El Sapo) in the world premiere production of Josefina López’ new play, An Enemy of the Pueblo, directed by Corky Dominguez, now playing through November 12 at CASA 0101, 2102 East First Street in Boyle Heights. Photo by Ed Krieger.
Within these cunning alterations to Ibsen’s story, the playwright adheres to the general outline of the action. Magda has a vision that tells her that the local waters, which are being repurposed as a health spa, are polluted. Her brother, Pedro (Arturo Aranda, Jr.), the village mayor, hopes to attract American tourists and bring prosperity to the village. Magda tries to warn the people by submitting an article to the local newspaper, an action thwarted by her brother, who is in cahoots with the polluter. In a public meeting, she is shouted down, and Pedro brands her an enemy of the pueblo. Her one supporter is O’Connor (William Jaramillo), a Mexican of Irish decent, a decent sort of coyote who can get people and goods over the border and back.
Zilah Mendoza and William Jaramillo in the world premiere production of Josefina López’ new play, An Enemy of the Pueblo, directed by Corky Dominguez, now playing through November 12 at CASA 0101, 2102 East First Street in Boyle Heights. Photo by Ed Krieger.
A key part of the show is the performance of J.D. Mata, who plays guitar and sings corridos of his own composition, before the show starts, at intermission, and throughout the play, punctuating the action and covering minimal set changes.
(l. to r.) William Jaramillo (O’Connor,) Zilah Mendoza (Magdalena “Magda” Del Rio), Joshua Nuñez (Arturo) and Laura Bravata (Petra Del Rio) in the world premiere production of Josefina López’ new play, An Enemy of the Pueblo, directed by Corky Dominguez, now playing through November 12 at CASA 0101, 2102 East First Street in Boyle Heights. Photo by Ed Krieger.
CASA 0101’s production of An Enemy of the Pueblo, directed by Corky Dominguez, as suffused with magic and wonder as it is, sometimes lacks pace, often because of the necessary set changes, a small quibble in an otherwise entertaining, worthwhile piece of theatre. The show is well mounted by the creative staff of Marco De Leon—Set Designer; Abel Alvarado—Costume Designer; Kevin Eduardo Vasquez—Lighting Designer; Vincent A. Sanchez—Sound Designer; Sohail e. Najafi—Technical Director/Special Effects; and Masha Tatarintseva—Projection Designer.
An Enemy of the Pueblo runs through November 12 at CASA 0101 Main Stage, 2102 East First Street in Boyle Heights.
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