To The Moon And Back With Rorschach's Dali
We all know the full moon can be a beautiful sight at night, but have you ever thought of making the moon your dance partner?
In Rorschach Theater’s lovely, lyrical production of Jose Rivera’s References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, the cripplingly lonely Gabriela (Gabriela Fernandez-Coffey) does that and more, coming perilously close to making the moon her lover while her Army husband Benito (Andrew Price) is away. It’s hard to blame her, when the moon is played by the knowingly dashing Scott McCormick, seducing her with longing glances and gently crooning, aptly, tunes like "Fly Me To The Moon" and "Moon River".
Salvador Dali is a beautiful intertwining of such fantastical moments as the one described, and achingly real displays of human interaction. None of this is more apparent than the desperate attempts by Gabriela to connect with and understand her husband, who has been shaped differently by the horrors of war. Salvador Dali deftly plays with the concepts of how much two people who love each other can truly know each other, and whether love can truly be unconditional when lovers themselves have been transformed into near strangers by time and hardship.
While Gabriela and Benito explore the difficulties of love strained, a coyote (Danny Gavigan) and a domesticated cat (Yasmin Tuazon) are tasting the raw adventure of forbidden love anew. Gavigan and particularly Yuazon impressively inhabit these anthropomorphic roles; Yuazon’s feline prissiness and Gavigan’s raw sensuality come together volcanically.
But it is Gabriela and Benito’s struggle that truly grabs us. Rivera's script is poetry in the mouths of these characters, but the actors never make its sentiments feel artificial or overstated. Fernandez-Coffey's Gabriela is a fascinating study in expressiveness, while Price is all tight, bottled up rage. Adding levity to their dilemma is Cesar Guadamuz as Martin, the teenage boy next door transfixed on Gabriela in an appealing, childlike performance with a surprising amount of wit behind it.
Rivera’s full-drawn characters are the soul of Salvador Dali, but director Shirley Serotsky’s staging is a testament to what Rorschach does so well; creating a transformative experience in a limited space. The cracked floors with pulsing red undertones; the moody blue metal sky; all set the scene for a work that not only seduces us, but challenges us.
References To Salvador Dali Make Me Hot runs through May 13 at the Sanctuary Theatre. Tickets are available online.
Editorial Disclosure: DCist contributor Jason Linkins is a Rorschach company member