Touch the Water
The final installment of Cornerstone Theater’s community-based Justice Cycle, revolves around the repercussions of laws that have been enacted to uphold, but may in fact disrupt, the well-being of affected citizens in the areas of immigration, reproductive rights, incarceration and the environment. How apt, then, to have had Touch the Water, A River Play performed on the banks of the L.A. River. “What?” you say; “That’s no river.” And indeed, since the Army Corps of Engineers cemented in the pathway of the river to prevent flooding in the thirties, the river has, in most years, become no more than a trickle.
But poet and playwright Julia Hébert found inspiration in a portion of the river near downtown Los Angeles that fought back. Although the engineers tried to lock in the river bottom along the “Glendale Narrows,” the cement never set. Instead, collecting sediment has encouraged vegetation inhabited by birds and insects, thus reclaiming a portion of the natural environment.
Through scores of interviews with residents along that portion of the river, Hébert fashioned a play that exhibits a river flow of incident, interweaving flora and fauna with the human elements: gang members, squatters, river reclamation activists and tourists. Beside the barren bank-side of the river, a fanciful, semi-circular set conceived by Darcy Scanlan was erected consisting of (from right to left) a gaily painted “low rider” serving as the living quarters for Ruth Betsy, the Duck Lady (played by Elysian Valley native, Cici Dominguez); a storm drain opposite a nest of driftwood; an abandoned shack made of old coke and beer cans now occupied by the drunkard, Luis Atcho-o Authemont (Cornerstone veteran Shishir Kurup); and finally, a really versatile band to play Kurup’s original music. Set in a perpendicular line bisecting the half circle, an inches-deep trough of water represents the river in every episode of the schematic story.
Hébert’s narrative twists and turns, interweaving several threads to create a tapestry describing life near this urban/natural environment. There is the story of Isa (Page Leong), whose little brother, Rana (Ricky Dominguez), was killed by a gang leader. The lone witness, Luis (Kurup), never squealed, but was sentenced as an accessory anyway. Now paroled, he has nowhere to go but back to the shack he grew up in, where he must face Isa’s wrath.
The tale of Ridley, the Sea Turtle (Joel Jimenez) was equally engaging;, the turtle is swept from his natural habitat up through the storm drain where pollutants poison him. Human attempts to rescue him (by real-life naturalist Joe Linton playing Joe Swift and others) are to no avail. The metaphysical aspect of river life was portrayed through the puppetry of Laurel Meade and Rachel Garcia who handle the ghost, Maniisar, a young girl who once drowned in the river, now calling upon the living to come to terms with their rancor.
A chorus of delightfully costumed Flora and Fauna (courtesy of designer Soojin Lee) feature dance. The graceful Great Blue Heron (Rachel Garcia), an agile Crow (Pat Payne) and a number of others animals cavort in the slanting light constructed by Lonnie Rafael Lacaraz. River activist Lewis MacAdams played river activist Roger Vadim! with a funny fake French accent while Matt Borel portrayed the humorless officer, Jack Hammer, whose by-the-book application of the law shows just how nonsensical it can be even when meant to protect and preserve.
By far the most affecting and nuanced performance of the evening belonged to Shishir Kurup as the drunken Luis. Aided by Hébert’s sensitive description of a noble loser, Kurup managed to meld a broken soul with an egg-shell crusty exterior in a way that shows both sides together; a marvelous achievement.
Thanks to Cornerstone Theater, in the four weeks of their engagement a record number of people visited the L.A. River and became acquainted with the dedicated efforts of Los Angeles’ citizenry to save the waterway from extinction.
Touch The Water: A River Play closed on June 21, 2009. For future productions, consult Cornerstone’s website at www.CornerstoneTheater.org. For more information about casting and other activities phone (213) 613-1700 or contact them through mail@CornerstoneTheater.org. For more on the L.A. River, go to an online exhibit of photographs titled “Rediscovering the Urban River: Los Angeles and Beyond” at www.flickr.com/photos/34472603@N03/.