Love Has No Gender
Theatre of NOTE as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival
Reviewed by
Steven Leigh Morris, L.A. Weekly
June 22, 2010
Pacoima-based The Unusual Suspects presents "Love Has No Gender," written and performed by local youth, with guidance from adult artists, in a program supported by El Nido Family Centers and the office of City Councilman Richard Alarcón. The place is packed with parents and friends, if the venue's 40-some seats warrant the adverb packed. They've performed this show before in a 500-seat high school gymnasium, they said in a postperf discussion. But here, in intimate confines, they can be heard. In the story, two Latino families grapple with issues of immigration, drug abuse and daughters who are a little too close for their families' comfort, but things work out in the end. The acting is remedial, and it doesn't matter a jot. What matters is the postplay confession of sweet Sandra Gonzalez, who played one of the leads, that—midsentence she teared up—"everyone here is so friendly."