A Show Everyone Will Love
“Blind Mouse Singing” is a surreal, strange, and dramatic play by Jorge Ignacio Cortinas. It was performed by The National Asian American Theater Company at the Baruch Performing Arts Center stage. The play focuses on a family that lives in a small village somewhere in Latin America, not far from a seaport town. The actual location is unknown. There are five characters, Bolivia, Mother of the Late Afternoon, Gordi, Reiderico, and Lucero. These characters have very different personalities, which is the cause for all the miscommunication within this family.
Mother of the Late Afternoon is a traditional and very bitter woman who always worries about her younger son, Reiderico, because he spends all his time talking to a well. She treats her younger sister, Bolivia, very sardonically as well. Mother of the Late Afternoon is so morose because her husband had abandoned her years earlier. She fears change and that maybe she will be abandoned once again.
Reiderico, however, has thoughts of change, but his mother’s control over him limits him from feeding his curiosity. Reiderico’s dreams and ambitions are embodied in the character of Lucero who lives at the bottom the well. Mother often find Reiderico speaking to that well. Lucero is seductive, charismatic, and self-confident. Lucero and Reiderico’s relationship is the surreal aspect of this play. Lucero is not a literal character, but it happens that Reiderico and Lucero switch positions.
Similar to Reiderico, Bolivia harbors secrets and secret desires. She has begun heading off each week to the open-air market in town, where she disguises herself as “the Spinster of Calcutta” and treats men suffering from syphilis. In this way she earns money and a bit of independence, and fuels her fantasy of running away to “the city.” She feels that Mother of Late Afternoon would never understand her job. Bolivia’s and Reiderico’s secrets draw them closer together.
The last character is Gordi, Reiderico’s older brother. He acts like a “bad boy” by smoking his father’s cigars, drinking, and bullying his younger brother. Reiderico lacks the courage to combat his brother similar to his lack of courage to confront his mother about his thoughts. Gordi is actually very jealous of Reiderico, because Reiderico gets all of the attention from their Mother and Reiderico has intelligent thoughts that Gordi lacks.
The cast gave an excellent performance. All the characters were played by Asians, which helped make the characters look like a real family. It did not, however, alter the concept of the play, which is a universal. The concept was of a mother who is afraid of change and the outside world and the people who are dear to her who want change and the city life. It also includes jealousy between siblings and a close relationship and understanding between an aunt and nephew.
To add to the outstanding performance, there were remarkable sound effects throughout the play. Sounds were not just played when an action was done, but the sounds also acted as cues for certain things that would happen. For example, whenever Gordi would enter, a troubling rhythm would be played. These sounds kept the viewer on the edge of their sight. The lighting was well done too but it lacked the creative aspect that the sound effects had. For example, the lighting would simply illuminate the characters at night.
Moreover, the director’s creativity was illustrated in the form of a well. The well was horizontal on stage as oppose to its literal vertical arrangement. The well’s horizontal arrangement could be interpreted to mean that it is the channel of thought in a person’s mind. The end of the well is considered to be the thoughts that are inhibited because fear and inability to act on them. Lucero was a personification of Reiderico’s suppressed thoughts of changing and moving to the city and was therefore, situated at the end of the well. However, Reiderico was afraid to act on his ideas and his mother would prohibit him and limit him from moving to the city.
“Blind Mouse Singing” is really a special type of play. It has unique characters played by actors that do an excellent job. The innovative visual and sound effects complement the great performance. Additionally, there is a creative supplement to the stage and play, a horizontal well that has a philosophical representation. Together, these elements build up a play with universal messages about family life, jealousy, and friendship.