By Eva M. Trieger
LA JOLLA, California — What more perfect bonding experience could there be than a week-long mother-daughter cross country road trip? That phrase evokes images of laughter, singing, and discovery, but it neglects the truth of a nitty gritty relationship that is punctuated by anger, pain and many revelations for both mother and daughter. Book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegria Hudes, brought this world premier to La Jolla Playhouse Mandell Weiss Theater.
This story is made current and brought extremely close to home, as it explores the issue of a young Mexican woman, mom Beatriz (Daphne Rubin Vega), risking deportation for a drug conviction dating back to her teen years. Her daughter, sixteen year old, Olivia (Krystina Alabado), may be able to sway the judge’s decision with her testimony. However, Olivia has been living with her father for the past four years, and has only mistrust and loathing for her free-spirited mom. The two deliver a musical that exudes raw emotion, deep love and razor sharp truths about connections, fears and bonds that defy logic.
Singer/songwriter, Erin McKeown, under the direction of Leonard deBessonet, created a score that synergistically combined honesty, humor and tenderness. This play is lauded for providing authentic characters and never falling prey to the stereotypes written into so many productions. Each character is multidimensional and has strengths as well as realistic foibles.
Olivia, a blogger, interacts with teens and young adults all over the United States. She refers to herself and these others as “castaways.” She is extremely literate and reflective, often being the mouthpiece for her followers. “Tolstoy is, hashtag, a fellow castaway.” Along their journey, Beatriz and Olivia collect friends through random encounters, and each of these chance meetings has import on the twists and turns of the complicated plot. The intense and relentless relationship between mother and daughter is evinced in so many excellent, provocative lines. Beatriz asks her belligerent daughter, “Do I get a second chance?” Olivia ponders, “We are all tectonic plates…pieces that don’t interlock.”
As the two begin to learn, or relearn each other, they develop an intimacy and reliance on one another. Through the support of the Guncles, gay uncles, the tamale man, and her fellow bloggers, Olivia has agreed to testify on behalf of her mother, a futile and final effort to evade deportation. However, due to Beatriz’ years of absence, Olivia doesn’t have those memories beyond being read Goodnight Moon or weekly visits to the art museum. She turns to her blog and her followers to “fill in my blanks. Give me memories of your mothers.” They comply and she crafts her story for the judge, yet, at the end of the day, it is insufficient, and Beatriz is sent back to Mexico.
Olivia does not fantasize that her mother is blameless or beyond reproach, but she begins to see that Beatriz is human. “The Internet did a half decent job raising me,” acknowledges Olivia, but realizing that her mother has been banished to the other side of The Wall, she asks, “Who will show me how?” The play ends on a very genuine and tragic note. It is beautifully executed and powerfully inspiring. Complexity is the name of the mother daughter relationship, and the polar political climate enhances the tension.
In addition to the prolific playwrights, Tony Award winning choreographer Danny Mefford, and an extremely talented cast make Miss You Like Hell a winner. The supporting actors include Cliff Bemis, Victor Chan, Vanessa A. Jones, David Patrick Kelly, Julio Monge, Cashae Monya, Kurt Norby, and Olivia Oguma. Each of these characters coaxes out new facets of our two main protagonists. Fasten your seatbelt; this seven day road trip is a journey of a lifetime. The production has been extended through Dec. 4, 2016
Tickets for Miss You Like Hell are available at the box office at 858-550-1010 or online at LaJollaPlayhouse.org
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Trieger is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. She may be contacted via eva.trieger@sdjewishworld.com