Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Learn to be Latina at Diversionary

Enrique Urueta's equal opportunity offender has toured the country, including a stop at Minneapolis' prestigious - and tough-minded - Mixed Blood Theatre. But Diversionary's iffy prouduction makes one wonder why it's getting so much play.

The staging, by an uncredited director, begins sharply: three robot-like talent people from FAD ("Funky Artist Development") interview Hanan, a promising singer. They sit at a long white table - on Matt Scott's minimalist set it, like the chairs and floor, is an antiseptic white. The trio does mirrored movements, and one-liners zing. But then the precision fades. What follows are sketchy scenes, languid pacing, and uninspired choreography.

And the script, which relies on ethnic slurs for its humor, fades as well. It's soon clear that the writing needs externals - the jokes, the dancing, an obnoxious hand-puppet - to prop up a flimsy storyline. But the humor isn't "adult." It's lowest common denominator adolescent.

Hanan Mashalani, the singer, is Lebanese. To kick-start her career, the people at FAD want to make her Han'an, a Latina superstar. She requires reinvention, they say, because she isn't marketable (she must "keep the West and forget the rest").

Along the way, the playwright dabbles in the politics of gender, identity, and sexual preference. But these questions linger in the wings, more than anything else, as pseudo-validations of the story.

The token scenes where Hanan and her lover Bianca (Olivia Espinosa) talk about the themes fall flat. They play more like lectures than heartfelt wrestling with burning concerns.

The most effective comments come from Tamara Dhia's reactions when Hanan first resists the change. Dhia's transformation, when she's seduced into a co-opted Han'an, is also impressive.

As Mary O'Malley, the company's ethnicity guru, Faeren Adams huffs and puffs all evening (she does a far better turn as a Latina talk-show host). Amanda Cooley Davis, Dangerfield G. Moore, and Steve Smith do what they can as minions from FAD.


Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Boulevard, University Heights. Playing through December 18; Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Matinee Sunday at 2:00 p.m. 619-220-0097. For map and directions see Theater Listings.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Ramona musicians seek solution for outdoor playing at wineries

Ambient artists aren’t trying to put AC/DC in anyone’s backyard

Enrique Urueta's equal opportunity offender has toured the country, including a stop at Minneapolis' prestigious - and tough-minded - Mixed Blood Theatre. But Diversionary's iffy prouduction makes one wonder why it's getting so much play.

The staging, by an uncredited director, begins sharply: three robot-like talent people from FAD ("Funky Artist Development") interview Hanan, a promising singer. They sit at a long white table - on Matt Scott's minimalist set it, like the chairs and floor, is an antiseptic white. The trio does mirrored movements, and one-liners zing. But then the precision fades. What follows are sketchy scenes, languid pacing, and uninspired choreography.

And the script, which relies on ethnic slurs for its humor, fades as well. It's soon clear that the writing needs externals - the jokes, the dancing, an obnoxious hand-puppet - to prop up a flimsy storyline. But the humor isn't "adult." It's lowest common denominator adolescent.

Hanan Mashalani, the singer, is Lebanese. To kick-start her career, the people at FAD want to make her Han'an, a Latina superstar. She requires reinvention, they say, because she isn't marketable (she must "keep the West and forget the rest").

Along the way, the playwright dabbles in the politics of gender, identity, and sexual preference. But these questions linger in the wings, more than anything else, as pseudo-validations of the story.

The token scenes where Hanan and her lover Bianca (Olivia Espinosa) talk about the themes fall flat. They play more like lectures than heartfelt wrestling with burning concerns.

The most effective comments come from Tamara Dhia's reactions when Hanan first resists the change. Dhia's transformation, when she's seduced into a co-opted Han'an, is also impressive.

As Mary O'Malley, the company's ethnicity guru, Faeren Adams huffs and puffs all evening (she does a far better turn as a Latina talk-show host). Amanda Cooley Davis, Dangerfield G. Moore, and Steve Smith do what they can as minions from FAD.


Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Boulevard, University Heights. Playing through December 18; Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Matinee Sunday at 2:00 p.m. 619-220-0097. For map and directions see Theater Listings.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SD Fringe Festival: Ubu Roi and Mona Rogers in Person

Next Article

Of Mice and Men at New Village Arts

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader