BWW Reviews: Strong Direction and Performances Can't Save Problematic Text in BETHLEHEM

BETHLEHEM, produced by Proxy Theatre Company, plays the Overtime Theatre at 1203 Camden St, San Antonio, 78215 now thru September 7th. Performances are Thursday - Saturday at 8pm. Tickets are $10-25. For tickets and more information, please visit www.proxytheatre.org

Octavio Solis is a prolific Latin American playwright with over 20 plays and numerous awards to his credit, or so I'm told. His drama Bethlehem, now playing in San Antonio, won the 2002 Latino Playwriting Award, but after seeing the show (my first introduction to Solis's work), I'm not exactly sure why. His text is the glaring weak link of the production. While the cast is fantastic, the text is a jumbled, long, and puzzling mess that seems more concerned with creating an "ew" factor than an entertainment factor.

The initial idea of Bethlehem is an interesting one, though it gets severely derailed in the second act. Mateo Buenaventura, who was convicted of raping, murdering, and mutilating Shannon Trimble, has been released from prison, and journalist Lee Rosenblum desperately wants his story. What starts as a quietly intense series of interviews (there's a delectable Silence of the Lambs-like quality to their exchanges) eventually spirals out of control as Solis tries to pile on too many subplots and unnecessary motifs. What starts as an interesting exploration of murder and whether or not Mateo even committed the crime becomes a juggernaut of muddled ideas including religious fanaticism, incest, and necrophilia with the latter two even played out to our displeasure and disgust.

The play clearly suffers from non-editing syndrome. Many ideas and themes are unnecessary, there are a handful of moments where the play could end, and none of the characters are clearly developed or even interesting. Mateo is no more than an angry, dangerous murderer. Lee is the archetypal journalist who will sacrifice everything to get his story. Dru, Lee's girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, or f-buddy (it's completely unclear as to what she is), is simply there and doesn't really add anything to the story. Mrs. Dewey is your run-of-the-mill religious nut who antagonizes Mateo and his family. Mateo's mother is the standard scowling, over-protective mamma. Murder victim Shannon and Mateo's half-sister Sonia are simply characterized as sexual objects. Solis's writing style is also problematic. Some moments are approached naturalistically while others are surreal and dreamlike with dialogue that is so overly poetic it sounds like a cheesy perfume ad. All together, the text is a massive mess of artistic masturbation.

Though the material is terrible, the cast and creative team manage to make the most of it. Director Aaron Aguilar attempts to create interesting relationships between the characters, and his staging is well thought out and intense. Sadly, due to the poor sightlines inherent in the venue, most audience members will struggle to see the best of Aguilar's staging unless they are sitting in the front or back rows. Aguilar's cast is also quite strong. Johnny Dimas is perfect as the brooding, threatening Mateo. Ty Mylnar is fantastic as the journalist who quickly finds himself in over his head. Though her character could easily go into melodramatic territory, Melissa Marlowe keeps the super religious Mrs. Dewey firmly planted in reality, and Marisela Barrera is a delight to watch as Matteo's stern and sullen mother. Though her dual roles of Shannon and Sonia are little more than plot devices, Sarah Nixon nevertheless turns in two strong performances and manages to breathe some life into the underwritten characters. The only cast member who struggles is Kate Oliveira as Dru. It seems Solis doesn't know exactly what to do with the character he created, and neither does Oliveira.

While there is plenty to love about Proxy Theatre's production of Bethlehem, the incredible cast and director fail to overcome the insurmountable faults of the material. While we've all been told that the little town of Bethlehem was quiet and peaceful on the fateful night that made it famous, Solis's Bethlehem has way too much commotion.

NOTE: Recommended for mature audiences only.

Running time: 2 hours and 20 minutes, including one 15 minute intermission.

BETHLEHEM, produced by Proxy Theatre Company, plays the Overtime Theatre at 1203 Camden St, San Antonio, 78215 now thru September 7th. Performances are Thursday - Saturday at 8pm. Tickets are $10-25. For tickets and more information, please visit www.proxytheatre.org

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