Kitchen Dog Theater presents Man Cave
Directed by Christie Vela
Cast
Gloria Vivica Benevides
Fatima Y. Flores
Gigi Cervantes
Sheila D. Rose
Asst Dir/Stage Mgr Katie Ibrahim
Scenic Designer Jeffrey Schmidt
Lighting Designer Aaron Johansen
Cosume & Makeup F/X Designer Isa Flores
Sound Designer Brian McDonald
Props Designer Zareen Afzaal
Video Projections Designer Philip Vilar
Technical Director Jeremy Escobar
My thoughts on Man Cave or…Women on the verge
Having been a public school teacher for three decades, it takes quite a bit to frighten me. I have to hand it to Director Christie Vela and her top-notch cast and creative crew as i jumped in my seat more than once during the play and this is the very first time I have ever been scared by taxidermy.
John J. Caswell, Jr.’s Man Cave is a unique and compelling blend of thriller, horror, social and political commentary, magical realism, and ritual with some occasional tension relieving humor. It is also a tale of oppression both current and hundreds of years in the past and the devastating effects of physical and emotional abuse.
Imaculada (Gigi Cervantes) works for a wealthy Republican congressman who is out of town. She becomes an initially unwilling host to her friend Lupita (Gloria Vivica Benevides) and Lupita’s girlfriend Rosemary (Fatima Y. Flores) who is running from an abusive former boyfriend. Later Rosemary’s mother Consuelo (Sheila D. Rose} arrives and the four women gather in the man cave or basement of the congressman’s mansion. It is in the man cave that the real and the supernatural blur and the women confront the violence men have always and continue to cause. To reveal more than this would detract from the enjoyment of this intense, visceral, and riveting play.
The four prodigiously talented actors create a terrific ensemble and make the real and the unreal plausible and often frightening. The characters gain our empathy as they go through their experiences in the man cave. Each woman deals with her own individual problems as well as the overriding ones brought about by the patriarchal inequities of American society.
The lighting by Aaron Johansen, the sound by Brian McDonald, and the set by Jeffrey Schmidt are also stars of Man Cave. Things don’t just go bump in the night here. They screech and howl as lights both ghostly and blinding flash over a set where things that shouldn’t move do and the intimacy of the theater intensifies every effect.
Director Christie Vela gives Man Cave a cinematic feel. She uses darkness as effectively as the light and is an expert at maximizing every chilling moment. It’s somewhat like a Hitchcock movie with a social agenda. This is a play where every element works, and Man Cave is as illuminating as it is thrilling.
*Google the plays of John J. Caswell, Jr. His plays, especially Wet Brain, Cream! and God Hates This Show make me want to start a production company.
