Is it possible to be a funny philosopher? Or a philosophical comedienne? However you describe her, Graciela Rodriguez is entertaining and enlightening in her one-woman show at Teatro de la Luna, “C?mo Evitar Enamorarse del Hombre Equivocado” (“How to Avoid Falling in Love with the Wrong Man”). Representing the first half of a double bill called “From Uruguay with Laughter,” Rodriguez’s short play is an adaptation of a book by Marcelo Puglia that explains why women fall in love with men who make them suffer. Using exaggeration, mugging, song and a highly energetic approach to the script, Rodriguez and her director, Jorge Denevi, set a breakneck pace early on and stop or slow the monologue only occasionally.
| Onstage |
| ‘How to Avoid Falling in Love with the Wrong Man’ |
| Where: Teatro de la Luna, Gunston Arts Center, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington |
| When: Through March 12 |
| Info: In Spanish with simultaneous English translation; $20 to $30; 703-548-3092; teatrodelaluna.org |
The point of “C?mo Evitar” is to let women know what negative elements to look for in men and then to avoid those who have them. Rodriguez is a superb comedienne, and she has great fun representing the louts who are most dangerous to women: the boyfriend who leaves, then decides to drift back even though he already has another girlfriend; the intellectual who can’t stop talking long enough to make love; the married man who forgets to tell his new girlfriend that he’s married; and the sports addict who prefers a good game on TV to intimacy with his wife.
What keeps “C?mo Evitar” from sounding preachy or over-intellectualized is that Denevi, who adapted the show from the original book, has a clear taste for the absurd in his satire. At one point he creates an extended dialogue among Graciela, her mother and her husband on New Year’s Eve. Rodriguez breezily pulls off the rapid-fire, three-way conversation about dancing with a suckling pig as easily as if she were ordering a cup of coffee.
Nelson Mancebo’s beautifully detailed, beige floor-length dress is as much a prop as it is a costume. With its plunging neckline and feathered trim, the dress looks extremely feminine, but with one swift movement Rodriguez kicks the skirt back, revealing a more tightly fitted garment underneath. With her hand thrust in its pocket, she becomes one of the many loudmouthed, swaggering oafs she loves to dismiss.
Rodriguez is thoroughly at home acting the role of those macho boyfriends who flatter and cajole just to get a kiss. The next moment she switches back to the role of the elegant, nonchalant woman who can see right through the flattery. Those breathtakingly rapid switches of personae are a pure delight and a staple of this show.
Teatro de la Luna deserves credit for bringing “Como Evitar” to the United States. Rodriguez’s savvy, intelligent manner of delivering this “survival manual” is a refreshing reminder that, in some circumstances, it’s simply better to look on the humorous side of life.
