Activists Come in Many Guises
A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis
At: Richmond Triangle Players at the Robert B. Moss Theatre, 1300 Altamont Ave, RVA 23230
Performances: On Stage and On Demand, July 28 – August 15, 2021. On Demand: check at rtriangle.org
Ticket Prices: $30-35; $10 for Students. On Demand Edition: check at rtriangle.org
Info: (804) 346-8113 or rtriangle.org. Richmond Triangle Theater has returned to full-capacity seating. See the theater’s website for their COVID-19 precautions, digital programs, and more.
Every now and then a play comes along that takes you completely by surprise and just sweeps you off your feet. The Pink Unicorn is one such play. I was not familiar with Elise Forier Edie’s award-winning story, independently published in 2018. In brief, it is about how the life of a young widow who lives in a conservative Texas town where “everyone” goes to church on Sundays is turned upside-down when her teen-aged daughter announces she is genderqueer. That blow is accompanied by the knock-out punch that she also plans to start a chapter of the Gay Straight Alliance at their local high school. I didn’t really have any idea what to expect when I went to Richmond Triangle Players’ Robert B. Moss Theatre for the opening night of the play. Once there, I laughed a lot, cried a little, and went through a plethora of emotions including outrage, anger, frustration, admiration, compassion, and love. The Pink Unicorn, a one-person show, does all the things theater is supposed to do and it does them all well.
Maria Lucas plays the role of the mother, Trisha Lee. Lucas, a VCU Theatre Department graduate, has recently returned to RVA after a decade or so working in Chicago, and what a phenomenal return this is. The play runs about 75 minutes without intermission and Lucas never once lost my full attention. Those sitting around me in the nearly full theater laughed out loud a lot and I am sure I saw more than one other theater goes wipe away an escaping tear.
“I’m genderqueer,” Jo announces, followed by a snarky, “Maybe you should look it up.” But Trish, apparently an equal match for her teen’s sharp repartee responds without missing a beat, “I’m not in the habit of looking things up.” I’m not entirely what a conservative Christian Texas accent sounds like, but I’m pretty sure Lucas nailed it. From her comic reaction every time she mentions her child’s pet tarantula to her hilarious characterizations of “the lesbian underground railroad” and “consorting on the phone with demons,” the latter in reference to a conversation with the ACLU, delivers a non-stop, well-paced stream of consciousness story that is simply perfect. And informative. And relevant.
Wearing dusty brown coveralls, bare feet, pigtails, and a toolbelt of multi-colored chalk sticks, she performs on a bare stage against a backdrop of chalkboard painted walls on which she draws an ever-changing mural while telling her story. Under the direction of Raja Benz (described in the program as a trans, Filipina-American theatre maker, intimacy educator, and cultural theorist, who uses the pronouns she/her/siyá*), Lucas transforms a few pre-drawn rectangles and a generic head into her child, her child’s friends, her child’s pet tarantula, Beetlejuice, a telephone, a school, a church, a name tag, and whatever else will help her story to move forward. The interactive mural was apparently not part of Edie’s script, but the brainchild of Benz and Lucas. After my initial skepticism, I was completely sold on the chalk drawings and couldn’t wait to see what Lucas would create next. Candace Hudert’s sound design is seamlessly woven into the script and Austin Harber’s lighting adds depth and atmosphere without being intrusive.
The Pink Unicorn, a reference to a little girl’s imaginary comforting friend, is also a nod to a parody religion used by atheists to illustrate the arbitrariness of religious faith, but you can look it up if you want to know more about that. This play is not just about laughs. It addresses transphobia, homophobia, Christian fundamentalism, family schism, and other real-life issues that are currently affecting families, schools, communities, and our legal system. And yes, you should go see it.
*If you’re reading my blog, I know you ARE in the habit of looking things up, but here’s one for free: In the Tagalog language the word siyá is a pronoun that means both he and she; it is commonly pronounced “shah”
THE PINK UNICORN
Written by Elise Forier Edie
Directed by Raja Benz
CAST:
Marie Lucas as Trisha Lee
CREATIVE TEAM:
Scenic Design by Dasia Gregg & Michael Riley
Costume Design by Claire Bronchick
Lighting Design by Austin Harber
Sound Design by Candace Hudert
Properties Design and Technical Direction by Lucian Restivo
Dialect Design by Louise Casini Hollis
Hair and Make Up Design by Luke Newsome
Assistant Director: Kathrine Moore
Production State Manager: Dwight Merritt
Photo Credits: John MacLellan
Photos by John MacLellan.
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