Presented by Paul Hernandez and F. Niko Avellant at The Common Basis Theater, 750 Eighth Ave., NYC, Aug. 8-25.
The late Miguel Pinero's hardly known play, "The Sun Always Shines for the Cool"—written when his breakthrough prison play, "Short Eyes," moved from the Public Theater to Lincoln Center in l974—has just opened in a rare and gritty revival directed by Jim Boerlin.
The action is set in a ghetto bar populated by a select group of dealers, hustlers, pimps, and whores, where strict unspoken rules are to be observed. Two enforcers—bartender Lefty G. Gorilla (Jonathan Williams) and Justice, played with quiet competent authority by Plinio VillaBlanca—let the habitués know that they have crossed over lines. When one whore pulls a knife on a mouthy rival, the bartender pulls a gun on both; and when youngblood Cat Eyes, played with requisite crazy nervous energy by Michael Soriano, enters the bar determined to take over other pimps' women, the whole joint snaps to nervous attention.
But it is Viejo, just released from a five-year prison term and searching for his daughter, who claims our sympathy when he approaches Justice and asks, "What am I supposed to tell her? 'Hi, I'm the spic that turned your mother into a whore and dragged her down into drug addiction with me, and abandoned you to a players' bar?' " ("Player" is slang for an esteemed pimp.)
Pierre O'Farrell's portrayal of a lonely, spooked Viejo is simply marvelous. And when Cat Eyes tries to recruit Viejo's daughter, Chile Girl (Victoria Cartagena), the stage is set for a violent showdown.
Pinero's play is remarkable for its rap dialogue, and the long speeches given to women describing how they first had sex as a child. It's good to hear Pinero's voice again, giving us notes from a criminal underclass yearning to be free.