The Arthropologist

Women are under attack in America, but a new Talento Bilingue show fights back

Angeles Romano in Sueño at Ohio State University in 2003, with artisticdirection by Johannes Birringer
Video Still Courtesy of the Artist
Angeles Romano in Sueño at Ohio State University in 2003
Video Still Courtesy of the Artist
Angeles Romano in Sueño at Ohio State University in 2003
Video Still Courtesy of the Artist
Angeles Romero
Photo by Naomi Madrid
Angeles Romero as Frida in El entrecejo/The Brow at Talento Bilingüe de Houstonin 2007
Photo by Sayra Contreras

Who could imagine that in 2012 women would be under siege? It's a time to garner strength from powerful women, even if they hark from the 17th century.

Writer/actor Angeles Romero has done just that in her new one-woman show, Sor Juana & the Chambered Nautilus, based on the life of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, a legendary Mexican 17th century poet and essayist, running at Talento Bilingue de Houston (TBH) Thursday through Sunday.

Sor Juana's reputation is so embedded in Mexican culture that she's even on the National Currency.

"She was a true genius of her time," muses Romero, who is also the director of programs at TBH. "She was like Mozart, in that she produced a tremendous body of work. Sor Juana had a drive to question, she was a constant thinker.

"With a mind like a playground, her mission was to know everything there was to know. She was a beautiful, tragic heroine."

In a humble convent cell, Sor Juana amassed the largest library in the Americas. Completely self-taught, she was given free reign to publish her work, thanks to Marquis de la Laguna, and his wife Maria Luisa, Countess de Paredes. "Maria could have been Sor Juana's lover as well, and that is touched on in the piece," Romero says. "There was no way not to."

The show covers what happened when there was a change at the church guard. "Carta atenagórica (Letter Worthy of Athena) was the essay that got her in trouble with the church," Romero says. "Sor Juana responded to the bishop of Puebla in March 1691 with her magnificent self-defense and defense of all women's right to knowledge, the Respuesta a sor Filotea de la Cruz (Reply to Sister Filotea of the Cross.)”

Getting Into the Role

Romero needed to breathe the same air as Sor Juana, so her research took her to Desierto de los Leones and Sor Juana's convent, the Order of St. Jerome, now called Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana. "

As a performer, it's so important to feel the texture of things," she says. Some of the footage she shot at these locations is now part of the work. Sor Juana was her graduate thesis, so Romero has done some serious homework.

The performer didn't set out to do one-woman shows. "I never wanted to be alone on stage," Romero insists, "I imagined friends to play with. But there is something very portable about a one-woman show."

Last year, her meditation on Frida Kahlo, The Brow: The Life and Times of Frida, sold out. As an actor/performer she excels at taking in an iconic figure's life, and then translating it for the stage.

Raised amidst border culture in Brownsville, Romero graduated from the University of Texas, performed with Deborah Hay and Alien Nation, and completed a residency at Ohio State University.

Two powerful women, Romero and Rigdon, coming together to celebrate the life of another free-thinking female feels about right in light of the current ongoing onslaught against women dominating the political conversation.

Sor Juana is directed by Trish Ridgon, a freelance director and executive director of the Houston Cinema Arts Society. Romero and Rigdon crossed paths while collaborating for the 2011 Cinema Arts Festival.

Ridgon read Romero's play, and her masters thesis, sensing an immediate connection.

"I fell in love with the material," she says. "Sor Juana is my kind of woman. I also felt Angeles' passion for her subject. She's so well trained, and we share a similar vocabulary."

Their working relationship proved a rich collaboration. "I knew that I would learn a lot from Trish," Romero says. "Every rehearsal is a class. That's how delicious this process has been. Trish is an amazing teacher."

"I believe that when we have unintended consequences, we have to look at the unexamined assumptions that we take for truth. So, even though we know that women are equal to men, we assume they are not deep down," Romero explains. "What keeps me engaged with this character is my attempt to understand how someone so brilliant and outstandingly elegant could have been subjected to such brutal and humiliating behavior.

"I can’t wrap my head around it, yet it continues to happen, again and again. There must be an unexamined assumption that women deserve this. I genuinely don’t know the answer, this is why I write."

A sneak peek at Sor Juana & The Chambered Nautilus

unspecified

Movie Review

New movie Friendship pairs Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in a bizarre bromance

Photo courtesy of A24

Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in Friendship.

Comedian Tim Robinson has gained a cult following thanks to series like Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave, in which his brand of cringe comedy is on full display. The former Saturday Night Live writer/performer has had a few small movie roles over the years, but he’s now getting his first starring role in the off-kilter Friendship.

Robinson plays Craig, a mild-mannered suburbanite with a wife, Tami (Kate Mara), and son, Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer). Craig has a boring life that involves little more than going to his middle manager job while wearing the same clothes day after day, anticipating the next Marvel movie, and helping Tami out with her at-home floral business.

He gets a jolt of energy when Austin (Paul Rudd) moves into the neighborhood. The two men seem to hit it off, with Austin — a weatherman at a local TV channel — even taking Craig on a couple of impromptu adventures. But when Craig commits a couple of faux pas at a group gathering at Austin’s house, their bond starts to fracture.

Even though the film is written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, it’s clear that Robinson had a big influence on the style of comedy it features. There are no big set pieces with a slew of jokes coming one after another. Instead, the film forces the audience to try to vibe with the very particular type of wavelength it’s giving off, one that could almost be called anti-comedy for the way the laughs come out of left field.

The 100-minute film is full of random comedic moments, like Steven kissing Tami on the lips, Craig being obsessed with his plain brown clothes, a group sing-along, and more. More often than not, it’s the way Craig reacts to both normal and abnormal situations that gets the laughs. The character is needy and oblivious, two traits that combine to make many of his actions cringeworthy.

Perhaps most importantly for this type of movie, many things in the story go unexplained or don’t make sense. Seemingly crucial elements are brought up only to fade away just as quickly, while other parts that appeared to be throwaway sections get callbacks later in the film. DeYoung and Robinson are determined to keep the audience on their toes the entire time, never knowing what to expect next.

Robinson has the perfect face for a story like this, one that’s bland enough to blend into the background but memorable enough to sell the jokes. His demeanor is also excellent, never becoming too expressive, even when he gets angry. With long hair, a mustache, and a certain swagger, Rudd is a great complement to Robinson. Only in a film like this would an everyman like Rudd be considered the suave and cool one.

There will be some that will see Friendship and come away wondering what the hell they just watched. But anyone who goes in knowing that they’re about to witness a comedy that challenges their sensibilities will likely have a great time.

---

Friendship is now playing in select theaters.

movies film