World premiere on Denver stage

BY SONYA ELLINGBOE SELLINGBOE@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The world premiere of “Laughs in Spanish” by American author Alexis Scheer plays through March 2 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and is set in the Wynwood section of Miami, Florida.

Scheer, who is also an experienced actor, was born and raised in a Jewish-Colombian household in Miami and knows Wynwood well. The gallery where her play is set lies on this strip, noted for its colorful murals and art galleries.

We found her new work highly entertaining.

As the play opens, gallery manager Mariana (award-winning Stephanie Machado) is faced with empty walls — the artwork stolen and a major opening scheduled for that evening, tied in with the annual Art Basel showings. Her assistant, Carolina (Danielle Alonzo) and Caro’s boyfriend Juan (Luis Vega), a policeman, are there with her, searching for the missing art. Sirens are sounding out on the street.

“I need to think,” wails a flustered Mariana. Also present: Jenny (Olivia Hebert), Carolina’s friend.

Mari’s mother, Estella (Maggie Bofill), a former film actress, is visiting to help with the opening by means of a “special live performance” at the opening ... and needs help with her own problem: She is facing an upcoming court date.

The gallery is set up for a party, even though the art is still missing ... “I will probably be charged as accessory to a crime,” Estella says.

It seems that in the ‘80s, friends asked her to carry two suitcases across a border for them. “I thought they were filled with guavas,” she says.

Mariana and her mother talk about art and politics throughout the play and about how artists push for changes in the world — whether or not successful.

This leads to Estella talking about roles she will not play: the maid or the one who handles the cocaine — Hispanic stereotypes. She is presently working the night shift ... is she a brujera? (One who combines healing and intuition about the spiritual world?)

Maggie Bofill, who plays Estella, is a widely experienced actor and playwright. Her skill was apparent as she dominated the scene, and her daughter made it quite clear that she did not want to be like her mother!

Mari continues to listen as Estella tells her that she wants Mari to know her as more than a mother: as a person with hopes and dreams and ambitions out there in the world ...

The playwright does a good job of developing a mother-daughter relationship that sends one home with something to consider ...

“Laughs in Spanish” plays through March 12 in the Singleton Theatre, with evening and matinee performances.