Lesson 433

Article by Rebecca Romani

Being almost 15 is hard enough sometimes, but for Cari Gonzalez, figuring out of if she’ll have a piñata for her birthday is the least of her problems. Recently uprooted from Mexico by her dad, Cari finds herself smack dab in Ohio, with an accent she can’t shake and a sense of alienation that dogs her through her days.

How Cari learns to be herself is the heart of “Lesson 433,” currently playing at the Moxie Theatre, the new play by Tatiana Suarez Pico, which continues Moxie’s excellent 10th season.

Moxie, known for innovative staging and works that explore social issues is hosting the world premier of “Lesson 433, developed after workshopping the play at Moxie earlier this year.

Deftly directed by Jennifer Eve Thorn, “Lesson 433” tells Cari’s struggles with being an outsider in the American heartland with humor and snappy pacing. Longing to fit in, Cari has developed strategies to cope, but soon learns that her father has his secrets, too.

For Cari, it’s her long dead Anglo mother, Maggie, in a brilliant piece of magical realism. Maggie, who refused treatment for cancer so that she could have Cari and then died, fills Cari in on life, judges her lingerie and imparts of series of lessons that include some fierce advice on conquering her accent.

But when Cari discovers her father, Manny, may be experimenting with easing the loss of his beloved wife with a mild flirtation with Lottie, her twin sister, Mom goes from loving to loathsome, at once still steamed about a transgression from the past (“They say you forgive after you’re dead, well, they’re wrong...”) and pained that Cari, well, Cari doesn’t sound like her and all the subtle and not so subtle issues of integration that entails.

It’s only after Cari realizes that “Mom” may be both more and less than what she seems, that she is ready to learn her final lesson and move on.

A touching and ambitious play about finding the courage to listen to your inner voice, “Lesson 433,” is also an excellent move for Moxie. While teenage angst and issues are common fodder for stage and screen, ”Lesson 433” takes a bold step beyond the teen-centered drama, highlighting issues of identity and immigration through the struggles of a teenaged Latina negotiating a new place and first love who is neither reduced to the stereotype of being in a gang nor headed classes for single high school mothers.

Despite the generally well-crafted dialog, the script feels underwritten at times. Although the story is slightly weighed down by overly wordy exchange in the first act, the second act picks up the pace, giving the play the punch it needs to make Cari’s final epiphany work.

A few gaps in the story such as why Manny went back to Mexico that could be easily filled in on TV or a web series by a cutaway of an image are left open. It is never clear why and when Manny came from Mexico or why Cari, and not Manny has such a distinct accent in English. Nor is it really clear why Maggie takes a sudden nasty u-turn in to Toxic Mom that smacks of hidden cultural bias. While magical realism is a wonderful plot device, it still requires its own logic.

Nonetheless, “Lesson 433” is a strong piece that adds a unique voice in Latino theatre while sharing a recognizable universality- the desire to belong somewhere.

Newcomer, 16-year-old Daniela Millan as Cari, is a revelation. Millan delivers a strong natural performance in her first professional role and brings a prickly sensitivity and wit to Cari, giving her role both vulnerability and a good sense of balance that grounds Cari in believability. Paul Araujo is a good fit as Cari’s widowed father trying to negotiate his daughter’s teenage years while keeping the family afloat, Araujo seemed to experience some opening week jitters, but his delivery picked up sureness and confidence into a second act that gave him a wider range of emotion.

Anton Mabey does a great turn as Cari’s wannabe Goth boyfriend who is both charmed and confused by Cari’s accent. Mabey gives “R.” a sense of brash sweetness that counterbalances Cari’s sometime aggressive insecurity without seeming like something out of a tween novel.

Wendy Waddell has perhaps one of the more challenging roles, moving between dead Maggie and living Lottie and keeping both similar yet separate enough to carry the twin conceit. However, whether through writing or directing or both, Maggie is the fuller character while Lottie is the lesser of the two, reduced to somewhat incoherent niceties and some hand-wringing- a more full-bodied approach might have made her youthful affair with Manny both a little more poignant and serious that it does.

The cast is beautifully complimented by Natalie Khuen’s sets that make excellent use of the stage and keeps the various locations clearly yet unobtrusively delineated.

With “Lesson 433,” Moxie continues a fine anniversary season. Don’t miss the San Diego debut of both a playwright and a young actress you will want to keep your eye on.

“Lesson 433” continues through May 24. On May 17, there will be a talk-back after the 2 pm show with guest speakers Professor Jessica Barlow, PHD, School of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences & Sherehe Hollins, Educator, Community Organizer and Professor.

Tickets are $27.oo for General Admission. Moxie Theatre is located at 6663 El Cajon Blvd Suite N, San Diego, CA 92115. Please see www.moxietheatre.com for more information on group rates and times.