FTW, 5.10.2024

The Northern Lights were going to be visible, and Hamell On Trial was at the Grackle up the street. We headed for the North Side, to the Rose Marine Theater, where Teatro de la Rosa was presenting Rob Bosquez's play My Brother and Sister with Wings, directed by the author.

Rob's a Fort Worth original, a writer, director, actor and educator. He's taught at Artes de la Rosa's Artes Academy and at Stage West. He's written for SceneShop (at Arts Fifth Avenue) and Hip Pocket Theatre. He spoke with great enthusiasm after the show about bringing another series of Cuentos Fantasticos -- "a collection of short stories that communicate the strange and fantastic" -- to the Rose Marine. (Full disclosure: I've known Rob for over 20 years -- around the time this play was first produced -- since he used to come and sing at the Wreck Room's  Wednesday night jams when I was in the house band.)

The plot in My Brother and Sister with Wings unfolds in episodic fashion, opening with a provocative solo turn by Ron Fernandez as the mad Doctor Horacio -- a specialist in "abnormal conditions" whose affinity for some unidentified inhalant reminded one theatergoer of Frank Booth in Blue Velvet. Amanda Nicole Reyes as Mara is accompanying her younger brother and sister, Joaquin and Sofia (Corbyn Littrell and the amazing Eowyn Lightbearer) -- both born with wings and exploited by their father Deacon, a fallen preacher (Thad Isbell) -- to New York City to seek treatment by Doctor Amador (Justin Rhoads), who proves to be just the public face for Doctor Horacio. Horacio wants to use the children's blood to cure his equally mad wife Abigail. The spectral figure Shadow (Susan van Belkum) serves as a kind of Greek chorus, narrating the action. 

The tempo accelerates after the brief intermission with the introduction of Juno (Freddie Quiroga), a Native American shaman who's fallen on hard times in the city and become a thief, and the first onstage appearance of Jozy Camp as Abigail, who almost steals the show with a performance of mercurial menace. Juno's spirituality is a marked contrast with Deacon's corrupted faith and Horacio's demented science. He teaches the children to find their ability to soar, and a home where they can live harmoniously with nature (although they might only ever attain these goals metaphorically). 

The fine cast is a mixture of veterans and newcomers. Some choral interjections from the wings and a scene in which the Ringmaster (Nicholas Zebrun) exhibits the children as freaks before a rowdy crowd are particularly raucous; Reyes's Mara is a calm, reassuring presence amid all the sturm und drang. Lightbearer takes a solo dance turn and displays a striking physical presence despite having few lines (Sofia speaks "only when she wants to"). The staging is minimal but effective, complimented by the imaginative lighting and sound design. 

Rob Bosquez is Fort Worth's very own magical realist. It's a pleasure to once again be in the presence of his creative spirit, and a reminder that there's nothing else like live theater.