‘Water by the Spoonful’ Tries to Wash Away Scars

Pulitzer Prize-winning “Water by the Spoonful,” which opened in Los Angeles this weekend at the Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum is the second of playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes’s works loosely based on her Puerto Rican-American family. The characters in “Water by the Spoonful” live in quiet desperation, trying to wash away physical and mental scars without heading toward chaos or an overdose. While many characters are sympathetic, they never seem to connect with each other or the audience.

The play is ostensibly a continuation of her story about cousin Elliot’s post-Iraq traumas and dramas. In reality, it is more about the human need to connect, forgive and get over things to get on with life. The characters are all barely keeping their heads above the crises and substance abuse in their past. But, rather than a grim drama, the production presents the ensemble’s stories with empathy and humor.

The plot is forecast in the first act when music professor Yazmin (Keren Lugo) lectures students on dissonance in John Coltrane jazz innovations. She explains, “Freedom is a word used to express chaos without spinning into it.” She relates that avoiding the descent into chaos does not always sound pretty, because life is full of dissonance. This offers a clue to the remainder of the play.

Ensemble Introduced

The “Water by the Spoonful” characters are struggling to avoid the chaos life has thrown at them. Twenty-something Elliot Ortiz (Sean Carvajal) works in a sandwich shop while dreaming of an acting career. He has a permanent limp and PTSD from his time in Iraq, as detailed in her play, “Elliot, a Soldier’s Fugue,” which is also playing in Los Angeles. Now, in this story, he lives in Philadelphia, caring for the aunt who raised him as her death approaches.

Elliot’s cousin Yaz (as Yazmin is known) is the member of the extended North Philly Puerto Rican family who made good, studying music and now entrenched in her upper-crust, intellectual lifestyle. However, the stress of a divorce (“You can only live in mediocrity for so long,” she tells Elliot), and the death draws her back into the family vortex.

The scenes featuring Elliot and Yaz dealing with their loss alternate with ones featuring four people under in a chat forum for recovering crack addicts. They interact verbally but, in a semblance of cyberspace that is awkward on stage, not with each other directly. Calling herself Haikumom (a stellar Luna Lauren Vélez), the administrator/matriarch tries to keep the peace and positivity for the participants. During the first act, she wins audience admiration for her efforts. However, as the play unfolds, it is clear that her true self, Odessa Ortiz, makes Coltrane seem like a lullaby.

The other members are identified by their online handles. Chutes&Ladders (Bernard K. Addison) is an IRS worker in his 50s who is alienated from his son. Young adult Orangutan (Sylvia Kwan) is three months sober. She just moved to Japan, where she was born before being adopted by an American family. Chat room newcomer Fountainhead (Josh Braaten) is a cocky entrepreneur who sold his company. He cannot admit to himself, much less his wife, that he is now an unemployed, albeit wealthy, crack head.

One other actor, Nick Massouh, plays a professor and policeman, but is mostly seen as the Arabic-speaking ghost haunting Elliot. He is yet another character moving around the stage without interacting until late in the play.

Connection the Dots and Plots

In the second act, the two plot strands finally connect and Odessa’s painful connection to Elliot and Yaz is revealed. Until then, the group seems to relish their connection and the anonymity it offers. However, as the play unfolds, spoonful by spoonful, the need to actually connect emotionally and visually with another person who understands their pain draws duos of characters together. The evolving relationships between Chutes&Ladders and Orangutan as well as eventually between Odessa and Fountainhead do not ring true.

“Water by the Spoonful” tries to show the dissonance in life and the difficulty people face when trying to wash away life’s scars. However, the show at the Mark Taper, which is running through March 11, does not seem worthy of a Pulitzer Prize.

By Dyanne Weiss

Sources:
Performance Feb. 11, 2018
Center Theatre Group
Stage Agent: Water by the Spoonful

Photos by Craig Schwartz, courtesy of Center Theatre Group. (Top) Luna Lauren Vélez and Sean Carvajal in the Center Theatre Group production of “Water by the Spoonful” at the Mark Taper Forum. (Inset) Sylvia Kwan (foreground) and Bernard K. Addison (background). All Uses © 2018 Craig Schwartz