Backstage Musings

A cause and no curve, a cause and loud enough, a cause and extra a loud clash and an extra wagon, a sign of extra, a sac a small sac and an established color and cunning, a slender grey and no ribbon, this means a loss a great loss a restitution.

Greg Dean as Anibal De La Luna and Patricia Duran as Celestina del Sol in Mildred’s Umbrella Theatre Company CLOUD TECTONICS

CLOUD TECTONICS is an uncommon and complex yet typical and simple love story set, first and foremost between the mild Aníbal de la Luna and the magical, feisty Celestina del Sol, and secondly, in Los Angeles. Both are lost souls. Anibal picks up the hitchhiking Celestine in a portentous rainstorm. Celestine is searching for her untrue lover who is also the father of her unborn child. She finds trueness in Anibal instead.

The play is written by Puerto Rican author and master author José Rivera. Please note: I don’t label him lightly. (I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve never written, “White playwright …”) I mention his heritage because he is a constant and ardent investigator and explorer of ethnic identity, particularly Latino identity. He combines poetic language, Spanish language, and the bizarre, fantastic nature of magical realism - Celestina, of course, has been pregnant for two years - to create this unique and imaginative play. I talk to actress Patricia Duran, Celestina in the Mildred’s Umbrella production of CLOUD TECTONICS.

I knew that if I wanted to, I could kick from behind. I knew I could get him on his back and even probably choke him if necessary. I had been taking kickboxing and self-defense classes and knew that the right calculated slither from beneath him could foil the violent desire of his pinky-sized, but all-powerful, penis. Completely clearheaded, I envisioned the exact movement of my limbs that would render him powerless. I knew I could push him off the bed, choke him, and throw a fairly decent punch.

But if I resisted, I mused, what would happen? If I was going to get him off me, it might mean injuring him. What would happen to me, a young girl working in an illegal trade, if I hurt this man? Scratches or marks were courtroom collateral that could be held against me. If I fought, I would be leaving without compensation. If I fought, he could retaliate and rape again, or worse. If I fought and ran into the streets, soaked by green beer, I could be followed by civilians seeking to save me from sex-trafficking, or worse, vigilante justice seekers looking to avenge my John for his injuries.