The second installment of Quiara Alegría Hudes' Elliot trilogy, "Water By the Spoonful"—currently showing at the Mark Taper Forum, under the direction of Lileana Blain-Cruz— has been making waves in the theatre community ever since it won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. A story of recovery and healing, this play mixes music, technology, and engaging dialogue to deliver a family drama wrapped in poetry.
"Water by the Spoonful," at its core, is a story about relationships: where to find them, what they mean to us, and what happens when we lose them. Elliot (Sean Carvajal) has just lost his mother Ginny—whom we meet in the first installment of the trilogy "Elliot, a Soldier's Fugue." While making funeral preparations, Elliot and his cousin Yazmin (Keren Lugo) confront Elliot's birthmother— and Ginny's sister—a recovering crack-cocaine addict named Odessa (Luna Lauren Vélez), and ask her to contribute to the funeral. After this encounter, Elliot soon discovers Odessa's secret second life as Haikumom, the site admin for a chat room for recovering addicts. This chat room has become the haven for Orangutan (Sylvia Kwan), who is seeking out sobriety by teaching English in Japan, Chutes&Ladders (Bernard K. Addison), a "big black dude who can't even doggy paddle," and newcomer Fountainhead (Josh Braaten), the "functioning isolator." When Elliot enters their world, the skeletons he's worked to keep in the closet all come tumbling out.
Vélez is a true standout. She is warm, inviting, and complicated. She brings such compassion to the stage and to the story, and serves as a medium through which the audience gets a glimpse at the struggle an addict goes through, and the humility and dignity that comes along with trying to get clean. Kwan and Addison are heartwarming as two lost souls just looking for friendship. It is truly a delight to listen to the two interact with their witty, sarcastic banter. Braaten nails the obnoxiousness of his privileged character, and beautifully captures his character's arc from entitled jerk to platonically-loving caretaker. Carvajal is angry for most of the play, and rightly so, but a few more moments of softness would have made the heavier parts hit harder.
The set (Adam Rigg) provides a beautiful playing space for the actors. A few key set pieces are used to make different, distinct locations on the set, from Odessa's house, to Yazmin's lecture hall. The projections (Hannah Wasileski) uses for the online chat room greatly help to guide the audience into that technological world where the characters live.
A beautiful piece of art by Hudes, this story cannot be ignored.
"Water by the Spoonful" will play through March 11, 2018. For tickets and information, please visit CenterTheatreGroup.org or call (213) 628-2772. Media Contact: CTGMedia@CTGLA.org (213) 972-7376.