Second Thought Theatre presents Our Dear Dead Drug Lord
Our Dear Dead Drug Lord by Alexis Scheer
Directed by Ruben Carrazana
Cast
Angela Maria Ramos
Alexis Farrell
Alicia Antwine
Alysha Lynette Gonzalez
Omar Padilla
Carol Diaz-Arrastia
Asst Director and Understudy Alyssa Carrasco
Stage Manager Gabriela Leodiou
Set Designer Bob Lavallee
Lighting Designer Lori Honeycutt
Chief Lighting Technician Niels Winter
Costume Designer Whitney Latrice
Sound Designer Joshua Nguyen
Intimacy Director and Choreographer Dr. Danielle Georgiou
Props Designer Carson McCain
Technical Director Jose Torres
My thoughts on Our Dear Dead Drug Lord or…hold on to your backpacks…it’s gonna be a bumpy night.
Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Is it a metaphysical thriller? It’s all of them and more and compelling, provocative, visceral theater.
Four teenage women who attend the same Miami private school in 2008 gather in a treehouse. Sounds like the perfect set up for a sitcom. Well, get those “Facts of Life” reruns out of your head because these young women are member of the Dead Leaders Club and they are intent on contacting the spirit of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. Cue candles, Ouija board, and animal sacrifice. Yes, you read that right, and that’s early in the play. It gets much more graphic from there. Take heed of Second Thought’s list of warnings before you buy a ticket.
And I hope you will buy a ticket as there is much to admire in Alexis Scheer’s play. Angela Maria Ramos as Pipe is the leader of the group. She’s demanding and adamant about the rules of the group. Ramos captures Pipe’s bravado perfectly, while also letting her underlying vulnerability peek through. Pipe is an upper middle class Cuban American whose privileged life is underscored by tragedy.
Alexis Farrell is a terrific Zoom. She’s the youngest member of the group and full of 15 year old energy. Farrell gives Zoom an awkward, trying her hardest to fit in quality that makes the character sympathetic and ultimately, she is the most tragic of the foursome.
The newest member is Kit played by Alysha Lynette Gonzalez. Gonzalez’s Kit has whatever the female equivalent of swagger is and wonderful stage charisma. Is Kit possibly the love child of Pablo Escobar? She is Colombian and the numbers work out. Hmmm.
Alicia Antwine as Squeeze brought me back to my high school teaching days. She’s the fun, flirtatious, talented young woman I loved having in class Antwine’s Squeeze, fighting her allergies, is a delight on stage. Antwine leads my favorite scene in the show where she teaches the other members a dance honoring her deceased father with such moves as “bear” and “broken umbrella.” It’s a humorous and touching moment in the play choreographed charmingly by Dr. Danielle Georgiou.
Director Ruben Carrazana keeps the action moving quickly in this intermissionless show and has the characters talking just like real teens, rapid fire , loud, and over each other. I was grateful for the short breaks between scenes to catch my breath and try to process what I was seeing on stage.
And what a stage it is. Set designer Bob Lavallee’s treehouse must be the most capacious one ever and, with the addition of plumbing and deletion of the huge poster of Escobar, it wouldn’t be a bad place to live.
Our Dear Dead Drug Lord sends so many messages that I’m not certain I got them all. Death seems to have touched most of their lives and they all live in the shadow of 9/11 which they would have observed as children. There’s also female empowerment, a jab at how some criminals tend to be glorified in America, and, of course, all the angst and joy of coming of age.
There’s more to Our Dear Dead Drug Lord than I am able to reveal here and the play is indeed shocking at times. However, it is superbly acted and directed and one of the most provocative plays I’ve seen in DFW. Truly unforgettable.
