• Rss Feed
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • Search
Skip to content
Visit Sponsor
Seattle Gay Scene
  • Home
  • News
  • Arts &
    Entertainment
  • Nightlife
  •  Living
  • Geek
  • Calendar
Home *Seattle Theaterland, Arts & Entertainment, Reviews, StageWET’s New Production of Guillermo Calderón’s “B” Explores The Politics of Protest & Terror…In a Funny Sort of Way

WET’s New Production of Guillermo Calderón’s “B” Explores The Politics of Protest & Terror…In a Funny Sort of Way

January 20, 2019• byMichael Strangeways
Left to right: Shermona Mitchell, Klarissa Marie Robles and Sophie Franco in "B" at Washington Ensemble Theatre/12th Avenue Arts on Capitol Hill. Photo: WET

Left to right: Shermona Mitchell, Klarissa Marie Robles and Sophie Franco in “B” at Washington Ensemble Theatre/12th Avenue Arts on Capitol Hill. Photo: WET

 

Review: “B” by Guillermo Calderón. Produced by Washington Ensemble Theatre. Directed by Jay O’Leary. Scenic Design by Lex Marcos. Costume Design by Ricky German. Lighting Design by Tristan Roberson. Sound Design by Maggie Rogers. Property Design by Robin Macartney. With Sophie Franco, Craig Peterson, Shermona Mitchell, Klarissa Marie Robles. Now through January 28, 2019 at 12th Avenue Arts. 

Dark comedy and political protest…a match made in Dramaturgical Heaven!

South/Central American literature and drama is frequently political, motivated by decades of problematic rule under dictatorial regimes in…well, pretty much every country south of the Rio Grande at one time or the other. (We have it north of the Rio Grande, too, but the “el norte” American problem tends to be more based in capitalism than political ideologies, though they frequently intertwine….but we digress).  Julio Cortázar, Carlos Fuentes, Octavio Paz, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende to name check a few but also everything from Costa-Gavras’ film “Missing” to musicals like  “Evita” and “Kiss of the Spider Woman” based on the novel by Manuel Puig. Politics and corruption and rebellion and resistance and capitalism and militarism and Catholicism all frequently merge in the drama of the region and most of that is found in “B” the 2017 play by Chilean playwright/film maker Guillermo Calderón now onstage at 12th Avenue Arts as part of Washington Ensemble Theatre’s 2018/19 season.

“B” centers on a pair of young female anarchists protesting the excesses of their unspecified country’s corrupt regime and capitalistic influences leading to inequality by placing small bombs outside banks and businesses; the bombing incidents aren’t meant to kill anyone but to raise awareness with a protest that damages things not people. Most of the other members of their activist group have been imprisoned and the less experienced Alejandra and Marcela need help with creating a new bomb (referred to as a “B” or the “cheese” for security reasons) and seek out the help of an experienced bomb maker/agitator named José Miguel.

Alejandra and Marcela have secured a safe space to meet with José Miguel, a rather incongruously gorgeous very modern/high end apartment and their cover story is they’re gathering to have a birthday celebration. But, Marcela is flustered by the attentions of nosy but seemingly kind neighbor lady Carmen who asks too many questions with the result that Marcela fumbles and adds to the cover story by blurting out she’s just learned her boyfriend was killed by terrorists in a bombing. Alejandra is furious that Marcela may have compromised them as now they have to deal with Carmen popping in to express concern for their well being.

Eventually, José Miguel rather flamboyantly arrives, in party clothes and carrying a present (actually the “B” aka the bomb) and all three terrorists don masks to avoid being able to identify one another. They then discuss the plan to finish creating the bomb but things start to get derailed with a disgustingly bizarre request from José Miguel and completely fall apart as the three begin to argue over their motives for committing this terrorist act; José Miguel is an old school rebel and doesn’t get the women’s reasons for their “non-violent” acts of violence and in rather long monologues/confessionals we learn the back stories of all three characters (and, eventually Carmen the neighbor has one, too.)

I found “B” to be an interesting play; Guillermo Calderón has created intriguing characters and a compelling premise all based on real experiences from his native Chile where a “non-violent” protest group staged similar bombings in Santiago in the mid 2000s. There’s definitely a “Pinter-esque” thing going on here with the oddly oblique characters, long pauses and rather deliberate pacing. Personally, the pacing did get a little sluggish by the end of the roughly 100 minutes or so of the running time. And, I’m not sure if I “buy” the ending, which I won’t spoil, but the play does seem a bit long and over-explanatory (while not really explaining anything) by the final black out which left the audience baffled as to whether the play was over or not (there is no curtain call).

The production itself is quite handsome; a gleaming white cube of a modern expressionistic set gorgeously designed by Lex Marcos with an equally bold lighting design by Tristan Roberson and a subtle but powerful sound design by Maggie Rogers. Ricky German’s vivid costume choices include a ridiculously pink house frau get up for the nosy neighbor and an over the top party outfit for José Miguel. None of these big design choices are apparently indicated in the script and while the effect is visually stunning, it’s debatable if they actually make much sense (why would a bomb making terrorist call attention to himself with an exaggerated outfit?) As a fan of “big” design I can appreciate the execution but also question its appropriateness.

The very attractive playwright, Guillermo Calderón...

The very attractive playwright, Guillermo Calderón…

All four actors are very good; it’s a tight ensemble with strong work from Sophie Franco as the more mature of the two young justice warriors and Klarissa Marie Robles as the more emotional and passionate of the pair. Craig Peterson is deliciously self-assured as the rather vain-glorious more experienced rebel, José Miguel though it should be noted he seems a bit young for the role which seems to be indicated for an actor well into his 40s.

Shermona Mitchell, as usual, kinda/sorta/mostly steals the show as the Mrs. Kravitz-y neighbor lady, Carmen…seemingly a minor character, yet one that pops up with some regularity, in a combo of cozy lounge pants, robe, fluffy slippers and usually brandishing a sweet of some kind, all of which are in various shades of pink. It’s a performance that’s hilarious yet menacing all at the same time and the performance/role are vital in a play like “B” which uneasily straddles a line between agitprop drama and very dark comedy.

Its languors aside, I mostly enjoyed “B”. Director Jay O’Leary has made some bold choices here, some of which may or may not actually work but I can appreciate a bold choice that may/may not succeed over not making any bold choices at all. I think the production could benefit from a slightly faster pace (the play was 10 minutes longer than it needs to be IMO) but all in all, “B” was the kind of theater production we need to encourage in Seattle….telling different kinds of stories about different kinds of people in an innovative way. 

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)

About the Author: Michael Strangeways

As the Editorial Director/Co-Owner, Michael Strangeways writes, edits and does about a million other jobs for Seattle Gay Scene, Puget Sound's most visited LGBTQ news, arts and entertainment website now celebrating its 14th year as a media outlet. A semi-proud Midwesterner by birth, he's lived in Seattle since 2000. He's also a film producer who would like you to check out the Jinkx Monsoon documentary, "Drag Becomes Him" now available on Amazon.com. In his spare time, he gets slightly obsessive about his love for old movies, challenging theater, "otters", vodka, chocolate, "I,Claudius", Lizzie Borden, real books made out of paper, disaster films, show tunes, Weimar era Germany, flea markets, pop surrealistic art, the sex lives of Hollywood actors both living and dead, kitties, chicken fried steak, haute couture and David Bowie. But, not necessarily in that order.

Related Posts

*Seattle Theaterland • #Theater and Stage • Arts & Entertainment • Musical Theater • New Works • Seattle Area Theater and Stage Preview • Stage

Seattle Area Theater Preview For April: Star Studded “Ghosts”, Ms Pak-man & Some “Sweat”…

Theater companies seem pretty happy, this month, as many launch

...

*Seattle Theaterland • #Theater and Stage • Arts • Arts & Entertainment • Arts News • Capitol Hill News • New Works • News • Performance Art • Queer Theater • Stage

WET’s New Theater Piece, “Amber” Is An Immersive Light & Sound Experience

Producing art and specifically theatrical art in the Age of

...

*Seattle Theaterland • Arts & Entertainment • Reviews • Stage

Review: We All Live In A Big Dance Nation…

Review: DANCE NATION by Clare Barron. Produced by Washington Ensemble

...

*Seattle Theaterland • Arts & Entertainment • Reviews • Stage

Reviews: A Fun “She Stoops To Conquer” and A Modestly Fun “Feathers and Teeth”

Review: SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER by Oliver Goldsmith. Produced by

...

*Seattle Theaterland • Arts & Entertainment • Reviews • Stage

Review: Two VERY Different Latinx Plays…”Brainpeople” and “Fade”

One is spooky, weird and oddly appropriate for the times

...

*Seattle Theaterland • #Interviews • Arts & Entertainment • Stage

Director Pilar O’Connell on Seattle Public’s “Fade”…And Latinx Theater, Classism, & ‘Imposter Syndrome’

  Pilar O’Connell directed FADE which opened Friday, October 12th

...

Previous: It’s January…Must Be Time For New Theater Not Involving The Holidays
Next: Supreme Court Declines Transgender Military Ban Cases; Allows Trump Admin To Continue Tossing Out Trans Troops

Comments are closed.

  • Rss Feed
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • Search

Seattle Gay Scene

SEATTLE GAY SCENE is Seattle’s Leading LGBT community website, and most visited calendar in the region.

We also proudly serve as media sponsors for a number of amazing local organizations, including: Gay City Health Project, Lifelong AIDS Alliance, SIFF, Three Dollar Bill Cinema, Qulture Qreative & Hard Times Press, NARK Magazine and Bacon Strip to help bring some of the most exciting live events and entertainment in the city.

Top Categories

  • Music
  • Community
  • Drag O’Tainment
  • Seattle Lesbian Scene
  • Stuff to Do

Recent Comments

  1. Noah Nguyen on Runway Drag Brunch @ Taqueria Cantina (Downtown)
  2. Michael Strangeways on Review: Seattle Rep’s “Mr. Dickens and His Carol” Is A Christmas Dirge
  3. A L Darling on Review: Seattle Rep’s “Mr. Dickens and His Carol” Is A Christmas Dirge

About Us

  • Our Team
  • Advertise on SGS!
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2023 | Seattle Gay Scene
  • Our Team
  • Advertise on SGS!
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Close Search Window
↑