REMEMBERING BOYLE HEIGHTS: PART 2


Casa 0101 Theater’s Remembering Boyle Heights: Part 2 continues playwrights Josefina López and Corky Dominguez’s eye-opening look at events that helped shape the L.A. neighborhood’s identity as a center of Chicano-American culture.

Unlike Part 1, which focused on the ethnic diversity that characterized Boyle Heights from the 1920s to the 1960s, López and Dominguez’s sequel reflects the predominantly Latino population that now call Boyle Heights home.

To do so, the playwrights (in collaboration with “The Remembering Boyle Heights Ensemble”) imagine a class project assigned by East L.A. College ethnic studies Professor Wong (an avuncular Marcel Licera) in which each member tackles a different aspect of Boyle Heights “herstory” and culture, i.e. historical events as they affected the neighborhood’s female population. (I’m wondering if the play might more accurately have been titled Remembering Boyle Heights: A Women’s Perspective.)

Though the construction of the East LA Interchange in the 1960s (and the devastating effect it had on local men and women alike) is conspicuously absent from the class’s assortment of performance pieces, this largely effective approach allows each cast member to take centerstage and shine, some more brightly than others, but each and every one of them committed to making local history come alive.

Raquel Salinas starts things off with a “Tongva Ancestors Blessing” that pays tribute to the neighborhood’s indigenous ancestors, after which cast members take turns reciting López’s poem “Journey To Boyle Heights.”

Tricia Cruz recalls the days of “Zoot Suit & The Pachucas,” and though chronologically speaking this look back at the 1940s might have made better sense in Part 1’s pre-1950s time frame, it does fit neatly into Part Two’s focus on the neighborhood’s female population.

Also predating the ‘50s is “Mariachi Plaza & Lucha Reyes,” featuring the power vocals of Melodee Fernández as ranchero storm as the Guadalajara-born “Queen of Ranchera” who reigned supreme in the 1930s and ‘40s.

Adam Torres and a particularly fine Arianna Evangelia look back at late-1960s student activism in “Roosevelt High & The Walkouts.”

Next, Salinas and the women of Remembering Boyle Heights: Part 2 recount the horrors of “University of Southern California, Los Angeles County Medical Center & The Forced Sterilization” of the years 1968-1974 in the evening’s most gut-punching segment.

Departing from the play’s focus on “herstory,” a dynamic Alejandro Bravo recalls how “Dolores Mission & Homeboy Industries” turned local gangs’ predominantly male members’ lives around.

Edie Pilar Money follows with “Paramount Ballroom & The Vex,” Oscar Gonzalez pays tribute to “Boyle Heights Street Vendors,” and Lori Rubio recounts playwright López’s journey towards a Chicana (rather than a “Spanish” or “Hispanic”) identity in a powerful albeit rather inaccurately titled “CASA 0101 Theater.”

Noe Venegas-Lamas pays tribute to “Mothers of East Los Angeles & Activism,” after which a fiery Leslie from the B does likewise to street artist Sand One, whose big-eyed, long-lashed “dolls” decorate the walls of Boyle Heights and beyond.

Last on the set list, a full-cast “For When We Dream” ends the evening on an inspirational note.

 Director Dominguez displays a flair for the visual, incorporating bits of choreography throughout as he makes imaginative use of scenic designer César Retana-Holguín’s expansive, multiple-mural-backed set, one that has been stunningly, vibrantly lit by Kevin Vasquez, a lighting design that makes Abel Alvarado’s array of traditional-meets-contemporary costumes all the more eye-catching, with Angelica Ornelas’ crystal-clear sound design and Doreen Sanchez’s carefully chosen assortment of props completing the mix.

Perhaps best of all, Remembering Boyle Heights: Part 2 clocks in at just eighty minutes, a refreshing change from the last two CASA 0101 shows that ran a rather too hefty three hours each.

Emmanuel Deleage is executive producer. Rosa Navarette is assistant director. Daniel Corona is stage manager and Sanchez is assistant stage manager. Max Brother is technical director. Steve Moyer is publicist.

Though Remembering Boyle Heights: Part 2 will be of particular interest to L.A.’s Latino population, it’s a production that any lover of live theater might want to check out. As one of the latter, I left CASA 0101 entertained, inspired, and informed.

CASA 0101 Theatre, 2102 E. 1st Street, Los Angeles.
www.casa0101.org

–Steven Stanley
November 26, 2022
Photos: All wide shots are by Alan Arvizu.

 

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