GALA's 'Rosita' tarries

Mabel del Pozo is Rosita in GALA Theatre's  Doña Rosita la soltera (Dona Rosita the Spinster)/Photo by Daniel Martinez

The word "spinster" is not heard or read much these days; nor, for that matter, is "bachelor," but to be a "spinster" in
yesteryear (a half century ago and more) was not a good thing.

Today?  

Who cares? 

From left: Luz Nicolas is the Aunt and Mabel del Pozo is Rosita in GALA Theatre's  Doña Rosita la soltera (Dona Rosita the Spinster)/Photo by Daniel Martinez

Weary am I of the sad souls on screen and stage whom I've encountered in the last week.

There was Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane celebrating the 80th anniversary of the "best all-time ever" film, Citizen Kane; there was Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye Bakker in a new release about Tammy Faye's Eyes (Jessica Chastain is a shoo-in for Best Actress nominee!) and here comes Doña Rosita, a woman left behind by a man in the age-old story of a woman in plight (when she should be in flight) and she waits.

And waits. On the stage of  GALA Hispanic Theatre.

I can't recall any performance where I was as eager to read a script as I was to read Doña Rosita la soltera, a running poem by Federico García Lorca (1898-1936), his last play before he died at the hands of  Francisco Franco's thugs in Spain, García Lorca's remains still undiscovered.

Nando López , a Spanish novelist and playwright

who won the 2016 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Play for Lorca's Yerma, has written the world premiere adaptation of Doña Rosita. 

Subtitled The Language of the Flowers, the wonders of Rosita's uncle's garden help flesh out the story.

Doña Rosita (Mabel del Pozo) resides with her uncle (Ariel Texido, in one of several confusing roles) and her domineering aunt (Luz Nicolas).  

With the servant (Laura Aleman), the aunt upstages the pseudo- protagonist Rosita whenever the three women are together, the servant more of a sister than a housekeeper, commanding every scene shared with Rosita who accepts a minor role. 

Rosita becomes a ghost in the background, a nobody (like Emily Dickinson): 

I'm Nobody! Who are you? 

 

Are you – Nobody – too? 

Rosita, kind and gentle, fades like the flowers and her dull apparel (by Silvia de Marta).

Like their namesake, Rosita, the flowers bloom, they mature, they wilt, and die, constant reminders about life's brevity. In their bliss, they wave and speak their glories, like García Lorca's poems in the script. 

Says Rosita: 

The rose it had opened

with the light of morning;

so red with its hot blushes

the dew had burnt away;

so hot there on its stem that

the breeze itself was burning;

so high there! How it glowed!

If you haven't grasped by now, Doña Rosita la soltera (Dona Rosita the Spinster) is not an uplifting play. García Lorca frequently wrote about women who suffer the pangs of unrequited love and his setting here at the turn of the 19th century confines Rosita to a meandering self-doubter who questions her being.

She waits years for her fiancé who promises he'll return.

She believes him.  (Silly girl!) 

The script captures the descent of a hopeful bride-to-be, and life slips away.  She is a "reservation on hold."

"Act!" I wanted to cry out:  "Do not tarry!"

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,

You may forever tarry

 (Robert Herrick [1591-1674] To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time)

 The housekeeper's cocky personality wants to:

Let the sun shine in the corners! Let us hope for many years of cutting roses!   

 
Says Rosita: 

There is nothing more living than a memory. They can make life impossible. That is why I have a profound understanding of those old drunken women who wander through the streets trying to erase the world, who sit and sing on the benches in the avenue.

The words drift and float, weaving their sad spells in melancholy which engulf Dona Rosita, aimless, coasting through life, accompanied by a humble but magnificent musical background (by David Peralto and Alberto Granados) which increases its intensity at just the right times before it slowly settles into absence.

This is a poetic feast, spoken in Spanish with English translations elevated on two screens stage left and right. (For non-speaking Spanish guests, may I suggest a seat higher up to be able to read English translations and catch most of the stage action.)

Lighting and sound (by Jesús Díaz Cortés) never miss an entrance or a beat.

A roving table is a critical prop, the centerpiece of most scenes. The actors wheel it from place to place, covering it, uncovering it as it transitions to a chair, a desk, a bed, a piano, a nun's habit, even a table, and more, a metaphor for Rosita!

 Society's pressures!

All is not lost on modern audiences, however, since it takes only a few moments to realize that juxtaposed against then and now, Doña Rosita gives heft to present-day women and our confidences that we won't wait for any man...will we?

 Dear Rosita: Time waits for no woman.

Mother, take me to the country

in the light of morning

to see the flowers open

on their swaying stems.

A thousand flowers are speaking

to a thousand lovers,

and the stream is murmuring

now the nightingale has ceased.

Cast members also include Catherine Nunez and Delbis Cardona.

Other production staff members are the director, José  Luis Arellano, who also won the 2016 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Direction of Yerma; costume and set assistant, George-Edward Burgtorf;  stage manager, Ilyana Rose-Dávila;  technical director, Devin Mahoney, and production manager, Tony Koehler.

What: Doña Rosita la soltera (Dona Rosita the Spinster)

Masks: Masks and proof of vaccination or recent negative COVID test required for all public performances. Temperatures taken at the entrance.

When: Now through Oct. 3, 2021, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

Where: GALA Theatre, 3333 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20010.

Tickets: $48; $35 for seniors (65+), military, and students; $35, group sales (10 or more); $25 ages 25 and under. To purchase, call (202) 234-7174 or visit www.galatheatre.org.

Handicapped accessible

Duration: About two hours with one intermission

Metro stations: Columbia Heights or McPherson Square. From McPherson Square, take a bus up 14th, or walk two miles and save money and expend calories! Lots of places to eat along the way.

Parking: Discounted at the Giant around the corner and additional parking at Target ($1.50/hour), both on Park Road, NW. 

For more information: Call (202) 234-7174 and/or email info@galatheatre.org


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