Boy
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Cast: Michi Barall (Boy), Cynthia Martells (Mama/Jessie), Robert Dorfman (Papa), Alyssa Lupo (Vulva), Amy Elizabeth McKenna (Labia), Melody Butiu (Hymen), James Saba (Mr. Stickey), Damen Scranton (Wiener) , Mike Ryan (Dickie), Kevin Berntson (Woody), Todd Cerveris (Shermie), Andrea Renee Portes (Charlotte). La Jolla Playhouse artistic director Michael Greif has followed his Tony-nominated helming of the Broadway musical "Rent" with "Boy," a playful staging of first-generation Korean-American Diana Son's fable about gender inequality. Utilizing Mark Wendland's brilliantly conceived playhouselike modular set and pop-art costuming, Greif tries very hard to emphasize the comedic elements. Ultimately however, it is the more somber agenda of "Son" that holds the attention, buoyed by Michi Barall's commanding performance in the title role.
TX: TX:A La Jolla Playhouse presentation of a play in two acts by Diana Son; director, Michael Greif; As portrayed by the lean and supple Barall, Boy is quite believable as a joyfully happy man-child: being one of the guys, playing ball with Papa, becoming an expert carpenter and handyman.
The illusion begins to crumble with the arrival of promiscuous single mom Jessie (also Martells), and her love-starved teenage daughter Charlotte (Andrea Renee Portes). Soon, the demands of these two females lay bare Boy's lack of certain basic masculine equipment.
In the wrenchingly cathartic final first act scene, a thoroughly naked Barall confronts Martells' Mama and underscores the essence of Son's play. Looking at her female body, she cries, "I am not free. I am not strong. I am not loved. I am not a boy."
The second act loses much of its energy and tension as Boy sublimates her masculine skills and tries to adjust to womanhood, marrying her childhood pal Shermie (Todd Cerveris) and attempting in vain to learn housework.
Greif does mine the comic possibilities of Boy's very pregnant gender-specific sisters, Vulva (Alyssa Lupo), Labia (Amy Elizabeth McKenna) and Hymen (Melody Butiu) interacting with their correspondingly named husbands, Wiener (Damen Scranton), Dickie (Mike Ryan) and Woody (Kevin Berntson). But the portrayals and situations are cartoonish and one-dimensional.
Ultimately, the play's conclusion is anti-climactic. It is no great revelation when she decides she can do all the things she had enjoyed as a boy child and still be a woman.
What does shine through is Barall's radiant acceptance of her beauty and her strength.
Other highlights include Martells' sensitive portrayal of Mama, contrasted by her sensuous turn as the earthy Jessie.
Providing an energetic lightness to the production is Darron L. West's imaginative Viennese waltz-driven sound design.
Sets, costumes, Mark Wendland; lighting, James F. Ingalls; sound design, Darron L. West. Opened June 11, 1996; reviewed June 26; runs through July 14. Running time: 2 hours, 10 min.
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