Brown & Out Festival Preview

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By John Farrell

Even Minorities have minorities.

That’s what the second annual Brown & Out Festival at Casa 0101 Theater in Boyle Heights is all about. Its about a gay couple who have to get their traditional Latino parents to accept the new baby they have adopted. It’s about an intimate Lesbian encounter in which jalapeno juice gets in a very private part. It’s about suicide, Charlie Brown, and a whole lot more.

Eleven short plays have been assembled, some written just for this festival, that explore the Gay and Lesbian experience from a viewpoint few think about– the Latino one. While several of these short plays are simply comic, most have a point to make, albeit in a pleasant, easy, conversational tone. It says much for the state of Lesbian and Gay affairs in the public weal that they can be so openly, even uncontroversially, addressed.

The plays range from The Gay Ghost Whisperer by Theatre founder Josefina Lopez to A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: The Untold Story by Natalie Camunas, from The Baby Cries by Mario J. Novoa to Forever Young, a collaborative play by youths from Jovenes, Inc., a facility for homeless young people in East L.A., directed by Corky Dominguez (sic.)

They all share a viewpoint: being Lesbian and Gay is positive, and problems can be solved. Charlie Brown deals with characters we all know: Lucy has come out a a Lesbian but can’t hook up with Peppermint Patty who already has a relationship.

Miercoles Loves Luna deals with an accident anyone who has sliced jalapenos may have had, but in a very different place.

Follow the Rainbow by Evelyn Lorena is a tour-de-force one-person play that could stand alone anywhere. Lorena plays Rainbow Gonzalez, a young Latina from the South who has meaningless (but vivid and humorous) sexual experiences until she finds a woman to love.

Not every play is a great work, or even more than a sketch. But the vigor of the young cast: Henry Alberto, Natalie Comunas, Hector A. Garcia, Lorena, Blanca M. Melchor, Martin Morales, Miriam Perricho, MJ Silva, Andres Rey Solorzano, Andrew Villarreal (sic) and Patricia Zamorano, makes the Festival an entertaining and thoughtful evening.

Tickets are $20 general admission, $17 for seniors and groups of 6 or more, $15 for students and groups of ten or more, $15 for Boyle Heights residents with identification. Performances are Friday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m., Saturday Oct. 6 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 7 at 5 p.m, Thursday, Oct. 11 at 8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 5 p.m. through Sunday, Oct. 21.
Details: (323) 263-7684, www.casa 0101.org
Venue: Casa 0101 Theater
Location: 2102 E. First St., Los Angeles