Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Thought-provoking plays from Latinx American voices: Liliana Padilla’s HOW TO TO DEFEND YOURSELF and Mariana Carreño King’s TRUCKERS

• By drediman
• March 28, 2023
• No Comments

It’s always a thrill being exposed to new theatrical voices, which was the case this past weekend when I was introduced to a pair of fascinating Latinx American voices via a pair of thought-provoking Off-Broadway plays. Read on for my thoughts.

HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF
New York Theatre Workshop
Through April 2

Currently in the midst of its run at New York Theatre Workshop, you’ll find Liliana Padilla’s How to Defend Yourself (RECOMMENDED). Set at a series of student-run self defense classes at an unspecified American college, the play follows a group of students as they deal with the rape and brutalization of one of their classmates. In this prismatic new work, the playwright skillfully digs beneath the veneer of youthful cool to reveal the teeming insecurities and trauma therein, particularly vis-a-vis the students’ budding relationship with sex. Padilla also sensitively explores the nature of consent, in the process also investigating the fragility of intimacy and desire and highlighting how sexual development differs from person to person. The first rate NYTW production has been co-directed by Padilla, Rachel Chavkin, and Steph Paul, whose production leans in on the naturalism until it doesn’t in spikes of severe expressionism (e.g., during the play’s transitions and its fantasia-like ending). Last but not least, they’ve also elicited a set of deftly-etched performances from their young ensemble cast.

TRUCKERS
INTAR Theatre
Closed

This past weekend, I was also able to catch one of the final performances of Mariana Carreño King’s Truckers at INTAR Theatre in Hell’s Kitchen (RECOMMENDED). Set south of the border (presumably Mexico?) in some sort of dystopian future, the play tells the story of three truckers who are tasked with transporting corpses at the mysterious behest of the government. Over the course of the play, they face their respective demons as they struggle to stay afloat and keep their sanity in a world that’s increasingly out of touch with humanity and reality. The playwright’s vagueness regarding specific world events contributes to the menacing quality of the landscape they’ve created. Indeed, as conveyed through their poetic and raw writing, King exhibits a rich and vivid imagination that kept me enthralled. Directed by Alfredo Narciso and caustically acted by a fully committed cast, the recently-shuttered production served the play well, easily sustaining the mood and intensity of the piece. As with previous INTAR productions, the staging resourcefully and ingeniously utilized the theater company’s tight quarters.