EATING WITH LOLA (Sulong Theatre) at the Factory Studio.
Times: Jan 6 at 5:15 pm, Jan 7 at 9:15 pm, Jan 8 at 5:15 pm, Jan 9 at 7:30 pm, Jan 10 at 6:30 pm, Jan 13 at 7:30 pm, Jan 14 at 5:30 pm, Jan 15 at 7:30 pm, Jan 16 at 3 pm Rating: NNNN
Grace (playwright/performer Catherine Hernandez) is a caregiver for her aged, ill grandmother and not very happy about it.
But over the course of Eating With Lola (“grandmother” in Filipino) the disgruntled Grace learns her grandmother’s history and the reason for her lifelong concern with food.
Other than Grace, all the other characters in Hernandez’s touching, humorous show are either puppets or suggested by such objects as hats and sunglasses. All are richly brought to life in Lola’s tale, which begins with her stealing food for her family after Manila’s 1944 liberation and continues through her marriage to a war hero and her move to California.
Hernandez and director Ann Powell bring warmth to the story, especially in finding the right emotional balance between the two central characters. Drifting increasingly into the past, Lola is determined to hold onto life and her kitchen skills. Grace, at first despairing of being a good caregiver and a cook who measures up to her grandmother’s high standards, finally comes to peace both with herself and her Lola.
A simple but tasty theatrical meal.
