Pauline Adamek
***
Nothing quite like an original play, performed in a black-box theatre, opening on a Friday night in Boyle Heights! Love Letters To Women had just the right amount of wit and charm to leave this critic all smiles and giddy about being a woman.
Review by Tracy Lynn Schafer
The stage, simply dressed with Valentine”™s pinks and reds and a few black cubes, was quickly taken over by five men. In a little under two hours we bear witness to a series of delightful stories about women from several walks of life. While these stories cover the good, the bad and the ugly, narrator Michael (Mario Martinez), painlessly ushers the audience from one enchanting tale to the next.
The focus of Love Letters To Women was devoted to celebrating and waxing poetic about the fairer sex. Writer Ryan T. Husk took life experiences from his fellow creator/producer German Michael Torres, who was blessed enough to grow up with five older sisters, and transformed those memorable life moments into this very play. Not unlike The Vagina Monologues, the performance runs like a well-oiled machine with the help of its terrific ensemble cast and its ever-present theme. The actors, each taking on a number of personae, magnificently lead us through laughter, cooing and “˜boo-hooing”™ and they do so via some lovely, thought provoking monologues.
In the end, it was hard not to leave filled with a sense of pride for one”™s gender – a sentiment which, I have a sneaking suspicion, may have been Husk and Torres”™ underlying purpose for producing LLTW. Verdict? Job well done!
Gentle readers – if you have ever been influenced or adored, enamored with, betrayed, taken aback or simply loved by a woman, then take the trip down to CASA 0101, to support a non-profit organization, and women of all shapes and kinds.
Love Letters To Women
2009 East 1st Street
Los Angeles, Ca. 90033
Runs until Sunday, March 6th, 2011
Friday and Saturday, 8pm;
Sunday, 5pm
Running time:
Approximately 100 minutes, with one ten minute intermission
TICKET PRICES:
$15.00 General
$12.00 Senior/Student
$10.00 for Boyle Heights residents (yay!)
TICKETS & INFO:
323/263-7684
CASA 0101 is dedicated to providing vital arts, cultural, and educational programs — in theater, digital filmmaking, art and dance — to Boyle Heights, thereby nurturing the future storytellers of Los Angeles who will someday transform the world.
CASA 0101 was founded by Josefina Lopez, author of Real Women Have Curves, in 2000 to fulfill her vision of bringing art and live theater programs to Boyle Heights. From its humble beginnings in a former tiny bridal shop, Casa 0101 has established itself as a leading arts venue for Los Angeles”™ East Side, currently offering year round theatrical productions and classes in dramatic writing and acting to youth and adults.
Terry Morgan
