Review: DOLLFACE Makes a Grand Debut at Mildred's Umbrella

Waves crash. Bottles clink. Small white flowers and blades of grass garnish steps carved in stone. And Medusa wears a glittering crown of snakes as the chorus sways and hisses alongside her. All are elements of DOLLFACE, playwright Katharine Sherman's contemporary riff on the Medusa myth, which marries imagination with detail beautifully in its world premiere run at Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company.

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Roman lore describes Medusa as an evil monster with hatred for all men. DOLLFACE aims to challenge that perception. The play begins as Perseus (Jason Duga) arrives on Medusa's island, intending to murder her. Once there, Medusa is revealed to be more human than monster and she distrusts, not hates, men. The distrust is deserved. Poseidon raped Medusa but, nonetheless, a jealous and unjust Athena has punished Medusa for Poseidon's crime by replacing the beautiful girl's hair with snakes, making her so hideous that she turns men to stone with one glance. And now the gods have sent Perseus to kill her.

Medusa's story is not dissimilar to the famous Steubenville High School rape case where the conviction of rapists whose guilt was certain -- the perpetrators recorded their crime and shared the evidence with abandon -- was decried and their honor defended while the victim was subjected to a hailstorm of questions about her previous relationship with the rapists, how much she drank, etc. DOLLFACE makes the connection crystal clear. The play parallels the Medusa myth to modern rape culture i.e. the set of practices and behaviors employed by our society that protect and encourage rapists and vilify victims and their pursuit of justice.

To reveal Medusa's human side, Sherman alternates between the character's past and the present. In the past, Medusa is the most beautiful maiden in the known world. And in the present, she is a rageful spectre of her former self. As Medusa, actress Arianna Bermudez switches back and forth between the young and artistic Medusa of the past and the posttraumatic Medusa of the present. Medusa's chirpy sisters are portrayed by Susan Ly (Stheno) and Monique Homes (Euryale). Ly bursts into her scenes, spreading warmth and sunlight in her wake. Monique Homes finds the right proportion of airheadedness and sweetness. Regina Ohashi, Elizabeth Seabolt-Esparza, and Callina Situka comprise the exceptional Greek chorus that provides whatever the production needs at the moment-- a dirge, humor, mystics, oracles, narrators.

Light Designer Greg Starbird, Costume Designer Lindsay Burns, Sound Designer Andy McWilliams, and Set Designer Shelby Blocker render the DOLLFACE atmosphere with an exactness that lends credence to a world and events including characters like Poseidon, Athena, and Medusa. And Director Jacey Little has an uncanny gift for turning the intangibles into tangibles. Under Little's orchestration, set and staging achieves much more than verisimilitude. One experiences the mixture of excitement and trepidation most women feel at an afterhours club. Altogether, Mildred's Umbrella presents a bold production, as thoughtful and provocative as it is engaging and entertaining.

Sherman's play, however, occasionally falls short. In making the Medusa myth modern, Sherman waters it down. This is advantageous when it makes the themes explored in the myth current -- there are definite elements of Steubenville -- and therefore more relatable. But it is disadvantageous when it reduces the complexity of the rape culture concept and the Medusa character herself.

Medusa, before the trauma, is perfectly rendered. But the Medusa after the assault is portrayed as irredeemably forlorn and focused on the personal growth of Perseus. A fine choice had the playwright kept Medusa a literal monster. Since she did not, these characteristics are applied to human sexual assault survivors. Are survivors irredeemably forlorn? Is there only hope at healing dependent upon rehabilitating or destroying the men who cross their path?

Also, the story has been an object of feminist discussion for decades, making the parallels between past and present evident for just as long. This re-imagining ignores those years of theoretical progress, making the play an adequate but antiquated introduction to the subject. [1][2] Sherman's saving grace is her ability to punctuate the play's oversimplification of rape culture and heavy handed moral pronouncements with powerful, poetic moments. The production's saving grace is in the alternate ways it demonstrates progress.

For one, DOLLFACE features an impressive collection of female talent and an ethnically and racially diverse cast. This is important because, though sexual and domestic violence knows no (race, age, gender or socioeconomic) bounds, mainstream media often depicts victims of sexual violence as white and middle class. Also, American theater lacks diversity overall. The popularity and profitability of productions like HAMILTON and ECLIPSED evidence gains, but the status quo remains oppressive.

In the case of the Medusa character, casting and writing do not wholly divorce the role from exclusionary practices. But the Greek chorus still decreases the gap in parity. Actors of color are literally the unified voice of the story. The DOLLFACE audience benefits from this. When a company casts a wider net, it dips into a wider talent pool and thereby has more quality talent to choose from.

The fine-tuned direction, design, and performances make for a smart, provocative production with laugh-out-loud moments that add the spoonful of sugar the audience needs to help the medicine of dark, sensitive subject matter and abstract academic concepts go down.

Remaining performances of DOLLFACE by Katharine Sherman are at 8 p.m., May 13 & 14 at Studio 101 (1824 Spring Street). $20. For information, call 832-418-0973 or visit mildredsumbrella.com.

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[1] For further reading about objectification and rape culture, Natalie Stigall, Primary Prevention Coordinator at sexual assault prevention and survivor advocacy organization The Bridge Over Troubled Waters, recommends Asking For It by Kate Harding and the following anti-sexual violence organizations:

RAINN (rainn.org) is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. Reach its National Sexual Assault Hotline by phone at 800.656.HOPE or online at online.rainn.org (Eng) and rainn.org/es (Span).

The Bridge Over Troubled Waters (thebridgeovertroubledwaters.org) 24/7 hotline: 713-473-2801.

The Houston Area Women's Center (hawc.org) provides shelter and support services to survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

TAASA (taasa.org), the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, is the voice of the sexual assault movement in Texas, providing education, prevention and advocacy across the state.

[2] Very smart sistas in the commenting section of digital daily Very Smart Brothas recommend Staceyann Chin, whose memoir "The Other Side of Paradise" delves deeply into her own sexual assault; Danielle McGuire's "Dark End of the Street," a nonfiction book tracing the civil rights movement's origins in sexual assault advocacy; and the many writings of leading academic and cultural critic bell hooks.

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