Marina (Emily Feleciano), Paquita (Heather Ward), and Karim (Matt Aguayo) celebrate in a scene from “Beauty Of The Father”. Photo by Michael Brunk, cropped by Craig Orsiniger.
One of the strengths of this production is its rising cadence, making me almost hear and feel the tides of the coast outside Emiliano’s door in Salobreña. [Director Michael D.] Blum and his cast create a music that is expressed as much physically as it is through the language of the play. In particular the bodies and voices of Fernando Luna as Emiliano, Matt Aguayo as Karim, and Heather Ward as Paquita kept perfect rhythm, lithe and graceful, as this dance unfolded.The set by Maggie Larrick and art by Jim Barnia took me far away from Washington State, despite the limitations of the elementary-school-turned-theatre.
Congratulations to Blum and all the cast and crew on a fine production, making theatre on I suspect a shoestring budget and a great deal of hard work.
Yes, it was indeed done on a shoestring. That’s the norm around here. As reviews like this one show, though, with imagination and determination it’s still possible to create a show worth coming to see.
