Rick Najera, an artist of outstanding and varied talents, has directed this revue of 12 sketches—monologues mostly—of his own devising, half of which he appears in, the balance played by the very accomplished Lina Acosta and Rene Lavan. Najera—who in multiplicity of credits and burgeoning bulk begins to resemble a Latino Orson Welles—plays his own parts with pep and pace, while Acosta and Lavan match him and more in their energy and diverse characterizations, particularly in the moments of feverish dancing that often preface their performances.
The monologues, a selection out of a much larger number, give glimpses of a very scattered spectrum of Latino life in this hemisphere and tend to follow a predictable pattern of raucous presentation and innuendo softened by quieter codas that can slide into sentiment. Some of these skits seem like the germs of what could be larger, more complete works. And much of the material is studded with vulgarities in English as well as Spanish. Stereotypes are wildly indulged. Mexican characters say pinche a lot; Cubans call everyone conio. The term sinvergüenza appropriately crops up more than once. The opening night audience seemed to find most of it—especially the naughty bits—very funny. The writing, however, is seldom as sharp as Najera's keener work in Latins Anonymous and Culture Clash, nor does it ever, even in the serious moments, touch the emotional depths his play Quiet Love does.
Acosta, not surprisingly, makes a specialty here of playing young hotties and does so with huge vitality—though it might have been refreshing to see her cast at least once as an abuelita. She capers ably through such diverse types as a pregnant Bronx Puerto Rican, a Cuban whore in a tight red dress (giving new meaning to Cuba libre), a telenovela star married to a drug lord, a pistol-waving Miss Barrio Logan 2002, and a lesbian made up as Frida Kahlo. Lavan is clearly in his most natural element playing a handsome Latin lover, as in an explicit sketch about a busboy's one-night stand with a blonde American outside of his social class—an episode that segues a bit lugubriously from passion to poignancy. He shows range, however, portraying a paunchy Mexican dishwasher who tries to get deported to Puerto Vallarta for a vacation, as well as a pathetically industrious and devoted janitor, and, in a rather blunt bit of political satire, as Elian Gonzalez's father on the phone to Castro. Najera, of course, fits snugly into the vivid roles he has written for himself, kicking off impressively as a Mexican Moses (with appropriate music from The Ten Commandments).
"Latinologues," presented by and at the San Diego Rep at the Lyceum Space, 79 Horton Plaza, Downtown San Diego. Tues. 7 p.m., Wed.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. Oct. 25-Nov. 24. $23-40. (619) 544-1000.