Last Friday night I went to the world premiere of BIG BRO/lil bro at the Alexandria in Downtown Los Angeles. BIG BRO/ lil bro was written by Jonathan Ceniceroz and directed by Josh Chambers. Company of Angels presented the play; for those unfamiliar with Company of Angels, they are the oldest non-profit professional theater in Los Angeles; Company of Angels reflects and responds to the richness, diversity and complexity of Los Angeles and I look forward to going to more of their events now that I am based in Los Angeles. For fans of experimental theater, I’d suggest going to go see this play!!

The gist of BIG BRO / lil bro::

Carlos Aquirere, an aging pretty boy from Montebello, leaves his elderly Caucasian lover for a younger man who is even more steely and narcissistic than himself. When the new relationship falters over money matters and role play, the younger couple is lured toward desperate and lethal measures.

I really enjoyed the character dynamics in this play. The young lovers, played by Xavi Moreno and Vince Tula, vividly portrayed a poor Latino homosexual relationship. The play dares to take on many taboo subjects; the abundance of slang terms (unfamiliar for me a homosexual context, the slang they used I would largely associate with heterosexual men “bro” and “vato” amongst others..) within their dialogue, their acknowledgment of engaging in prostitution and other crimes for survival, legal pederasty, and the sacrifices they make for each other create amoral nuanced characters that break free from stereotypes. The young couple is reliant upon but trying to break free from the cultured, refined, older Gil; played by Art McDermott. Gil’s affluence is both a source of ease and hostility, issues of race and class are prodded but the humor is abundant. No one is exempt from the multi-generational nuanced struggle to find independence and intimacy; in the end melancholia seems to be the great equalizer.

The play is up July 17th – August 2nd, 2009 – Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm.

Get your tickets.

For more information, please call (323) 883-1717, or check out the website www.companyofangels.org.