In “Am I Roxie?,” a world premiere one-woman-show on the Geffen Playhouse, Roxana Ortega, a working actress and alum of the Groundlings Theatre’s Sunday Firm, revisits the interval in her life when she was the caregiver for her mom, whose reminiscence was unraveling.
When Ortega’s father died of a sudden coronary heart assault exterior the put up workplace, she was unprepared for the results. He had been defending the household from her mom’s decline.
An immigrant from Peru who had relinquished her desires of appearing to boost a household, Carmen had a particular bond with Ortega. When little Roxana was rising up in Fullerton, her mom would improvise operas whereas fixing breakfast. Collectively, they dreamed theatrical desires.
Carmen has many sisters — “Picture the Housewives of Beverly Hills, but in Canoga Park” — however none had been in a position to take her in. Ortega’s siblings, married with kids, had been equally unable.
Not having youngsters of her personal disadvantaged Ortega of the one excuse her household would have acknowledged. But she nonetheless needed to have youngsters, although not earlier than she discovered the suitable husband and made some headway in a profession marked by small triumphs, similar to reserving commercials and webisodes. Was she actually going to place her life on maintain for just a few years?
Discovering a painful compromise, she decides to maneuver her mom to an assisted-living facility close to her in L.A. Taking this step requires her to go to struggle along with her “inner Latina critic,” who reminds her of the code of her blood: “We take care of our own.” She provides an expletive to the top of this pronouncement, however no emphasis is required for a daughter who has already indicted herself for selfishness, the one unpardonable sin for a Latina.
“Am I Roxie?,” carried out by Ortega with unflagging ebullience in an athletic-wear jumpsuit designed for consolation relatively than model, brings to the exhausting, guilt-inducing grind of eldercare her personal cultural spin. The topic is relatable, as lifespans have prolonged whereas medical insurance solely appears to contract. Ortega is an agreeable information by means of the thicket of issues, similar to selecting between senior amenities that resemble “sad Marriotts” or “sad La Quinta Inns.”
The present is extra of a private essay composed for the stage than a deeply imagined efficiency work. Ortega’s method is pleasant and wryly conversational. She’s bearing witness to a human dilemma our tradition would like to maintain below wraps, however Ortega may simply as simply be doing an audio essay or podcast. The one character who comes vividly to life is her personal.
There’s a wealthy custom of efficiency artists bringing tough private tales to public mild. “Am I Roxie?” appears disconnected from the work of Lisa Kron, Deb Margolin and Marga Gomez. Soloists who can populate the stage with uncurtailed ambition.
Thematically, “Am I Roxie?” is structured across the “Circle of Life” track from “The Lion King.” Ortega is aware of this reference is corny, however it’s additionally inescapably apt. The one who gave her life now wants her assist as she nears the top.
Roxana Ortega in “Am I Roxie?” at Geffen Playhouse.
(Jeff Lorch)
Start and dying weigh heavy on Ortega’s thoughts, as she ponders her personal lifespan, the diminishing window for motherhood and the confused and generally indignant helplessness of Carmen, who involves imagine that her daughter is her sister. Finally, Carmen will surprise if she herself is Roxie, an existential dilemma that Ortega refuses to grasp as a mere symptom of Alzheimer’s illness.
She’s reluctant in the beginning to call her mom’s situation. How can she scale back a liked one to a medical analysis? Even at Carmen’s most exasperating, she may nonetheless shock Ortega with a easy, poignant query: “How are you doing in your life, Roxie?”
Ortega begins to grasp that, although her mom has been reworked, she will be able to nonetheless join along with her if she accepts her as she is. By chatting with her mom within the nonsense language she falls into and by enjoying video games of faux as in the event that they had been again in her childhood dwelling, Ortega reaches her mom, if just for fleeting moments.
The manufacturing, directed by Bernardo Cubría, appears to have adopted a medical oath of first doing no hurt. A set piece is each once in a while mechanically (and considerably quizzically) moved in or out, and there are projections providing illustrations of Fullerton and Ortega’s psychological well being journey scaling the height of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
However “Am I Roxie?” doesn’t depend upon scenic frills. Ortega is the present — not simply her story however her rapport with the theatergoers, with whom she confides as if to outdated pals. She shares her fears that she might need sometimes failed her mom, however this confession is simply one other instance of her beneficiant humanity.
‘Am I Roxie?’
The place: Gil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., L.A.
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 3 and eight p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Oct. 5
Tickets: $45 – $139 (topic to alter)
Contact: (310) 208-2028 or www.geffenplayhouse.org
Working time: 1 hour, 25 minutes (no intermission)
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