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Ilya Khodosh Ilya Reviews Dona Rosita the Spinster at The Jean Cocteau Repertory Before I write anything about Dona Rosita the Spinster, I just want to mention how much I love the Jean Cocteau Repertory. Although my experience is limited, I believe it's the most reliable and probably best off-Broadway classical theater company in the city. I have seen upwards of ten plays there through High 5, and though I've been disappointed once or twice, the others have ranged from satisfying to exceptional to amazing to supreme. Likewise, the Bouwerie Lane Theater is one of the most comfortable venues I've ever been in. Located in the Lower East Side, it is small, sophisticated and urbane, but never pretentious. I think the Jean Cocteau Rep is one of the best organizations that High 5 offers, and people should take advantage. That said, Federico Garcia Lorca's Dona Rosita is an affective and beautifully engaging play. Alternatively funny and somber, it possesses a perfect balance of lyrical poetry, atmospheric imagery and sharp, realistic dialogue. Rosita, a young girl living in Granada, Spain with her aunt and uncle, is engaged to her second cousin, who is unexpectedly called to join his family in Mexico. He promises to return and she promises to wait but as decades pass, it becomes evident that he has abandoned her and she must hold on to her dignity and accept her identity as an old maid. The play follows Rosita's family over the span of 25 years, and every act sees the characters older, more unnerved and fragile, and finally dispirited and resigned. The play has its subtle faults in the areas of plot and character development. The large sequential gaps between acts are mildly disconcerting, and certain characters remain stereotypes, though they make up for it by being entertaining. Also, it's not altogether clear why Rosita cannot go to Mexico with her fiancee. I imagine this to be somehow reflective of the era's social standards, and although the moods of the play are acutely empathetic and universal, the play requires the imagination to immerse itself into a setting of antiquated, unfamiliar values. One must accept the fact that back then, a young woman's only objective in life was to get married. It is a worthwhile leap. The production could not be better. It is well-paced, and the cast is perfect. Amanda Jones admirably captures the subtleties of Rosita's journey and is a powerful presence. She portrays spirited naivete, mournful desperation, and quiet, trance-like detachment with equal conviction. Company veterans Craig Smith and Elise Stone, as Rosita's sensible and devoted aunt and uncle, are excellent. Mr. Smith brings energetic idiosyncrasy to the production, and his absence in the third act is both sorely missed by the audience and deeply felt in Ms. Stone's performance. Eileen Glenn, playing a talkative, worldly housekeeper, is unforgettable. She is brilliantly funny in her scenes with Ms. Stone, and could have easily stolen the show at leisure had her performance not been conscientious and integral as well. Dona Rosita the Spinster is a lovely and moving story of misguided love, injustice, the fleeting passage of time, and the sentiment that despite everything, life goes on. The emotion is potent, distressing, profound and important, and so is this production. |
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