Palestine, New Mexico

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Palestine, New Mexico

Center Theatre Group at the Mark Taper Forum

Reviewed by Les Spindle

December 16, 2009

The name of Chicano performing trio Culture Clash seems particularly suited to the group's latest project. Anti-war sentiments play a significant part in this new play by Culture Clasher Richard Montoya, though he simultaneously explores intriguing themes of cultural isolationism and religious bigotry. Director Lisa Peterson and her design team parlay the play's surrealistic elements into several viscerally enthralling scenes. She's less successful at eliciting a stimulating cerebral experience from the flawed script. Despite powerful moments, the play belabors and ultimately muddles the unraveling of its complex mysteries. Tonal inconsistency further blunts the play's impact.

Catherine Siler (Kirsten Potter), a discharged Army captain, returns from her assignment in Afghanistan and travels to a New Mexico Indian reservation. When soldier Raymond Birdsong (Justin Rain) died on the battlefield, he had asked the captain to take a note to his father. Siler suspects that Raymond was murdered by his fellow soldiers and hopes to find clues to support this. In the process, she uncovers ancient secrets about the Native American tribal cultures. The play's title provides a clue to Siler's startling discoveries.

After an edgy opening scene on the foreign battlefront, the sequences following Siler's arrival on the reservation focus too heavily on the residents' comic eccentricities. Montoya plays an officer named Top Hat, who fancies himself as a Clint Eastwood–type "high-plains drifter" who carries out drug busts. As for the other Culture Clash members, Ric Salinas appears as a henchman who compares himself to Charles Bronson, and Herbert Siguenza plays a doltish cop who rides around on a golf cart. Though these portrayals are amusing, the sketch-comedy sensibility is at odds with the play's sobering subject matter. Potter gives a creditable performance as the tenacious war veteran, illuminating the character's courage and strength. Russell Means is impressive as the domineering Chief Birdsong, Ray's father, who undergoes a surprising change of heart. Julia Jones excels as Ray's widow and as woman from the past who holds a key to the tribe's divisive history. In the dual roles of Raymond and his cousin Suarez, Rain is likewise superb.

The production's visual elements are wondrous: Rachel Hauck's majestic set, Alexander V. Nichols' lighting and projected imagery, and Christopher Acebo's costumes. Paul James Prendergast's original music and sound are also splendidly atmospheric.

Presented by Center Theatre Group at the Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. Dec. 13–Jan. 24, 2010. Tue.–Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat. 2:30 and 8 p.m.; Sun., 1 and 6:30 p.m. (213) 628-2772. www.centertheatregroup.org.