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Culture Theatre

Chocolate Woman Dreams The Milky Way

CHOCOLATE WOMAN DREAMS THE MILKY WAY by Monique Mojica (Chocolate Woman Collective). At the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse (79A St. George). To June 19. $20, stu/srs $10. 647-717-6129. See listing Rating: NNNN

Go see Monique Mojica perform her new show. There’s no one in the world like her, and you’ve never seen anything like Chocolate Woman Dreams The Milky Way. Five years – and many journeys to Panama – in the making, Chocolate Woman follows a Kuna woman who’s lost her way and can find out who she is only by connecting with her history and culture.

Though there is a journey, there’s no actual “plot.” Instead, honouring the mola, a Kuna blouse, embroidered and deeply textured, Mojica – with the inimitable Gloria Miguel telling stories in counterpoint – creates layers of meaning in a magical environment. At times you’re not sure where you are, which is the point. Mojica and company want to disrupt the audience’s expectation of theatre.

Out of nowhere, for example, Mojica sings snippets of popular songs, which adds to the show’s hallucinatory, playful and questioning vibe.

Miguel, founding member of New York’s Spiderwoman Theatre, has the magisterial qualities required of the wise, maternal guardian of the stories.

But this is Mojica’s show, and she’s electrifying. Her body seems to vibrate as she represents the stars. Playing female and male characters, her movements are precise – at times the piece feels like a dance, at others like a circus act. In collaboration with director Jose A. Colman, she uses a hammock and some hanging ropes to spectacular effect.

Three tapestry-like banners are crucial to the telling of the story but aren’t entirely visible. Though striking, they function more as an art piece than a set.

Still, at a show like this, you won’t be able to take your eyes off Mojica.

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