Kissing Fidel
by Eva Sandoval
Bienvenido รก Miami, where the café and bitterness flow nonstop in a funeral parlor and the death of a Cuban matriarch is the impetus to dissect the sordid lives of her kin. Shattered by Castro but utterly gouged by family skeletons and the “fictional” tell-all novels of grandson Oscar, the Marquez family is alternately consumed with exhuming and obliterating the past; tasks which become even more difficult when Oscar announces his plan to kiss and forgive Fidel Castro.
Eduardo Machado’s Kissing Fidel is multi-layered and strong on premise but suffers greatly from uneven performances, awkward dialogue and often illogical blocking. Fortunately, with the arrival of fresh-off-the-raft rhyme-dropping cousin Ismael the play truly begins to sing. Brilliantly portrayed by Andres Munmar, the presence of Ismael does more to crystallize the lasting effects of exile on a family — as well as the distance between American-born, Americanized and native Cubans than any of the play’s convulsion-induced visions, incestuous episodes, strangely hollow screaming fits, or the exposed penis can, ultimately allowing the play to live up to its grand themes of forgiveness and finally, letting go.
Eduardo Machado’s Kissing Fidel is multi-layered and strong on premise but suffers greatly from uneven performances, awkward dialogue and often illogical blocking. Fortunately, with the arrival of fresh-off-the-raft rhyme-dropping cousin Ismael the play truly begins to sing. Brilliantly portrayed by Andres Munmar, the presence of Ismael does more to crystallize the lasting effects of exile on a family — as well as the distance between American-born, Americanized and native Cubans than any of the play’s convulsion-induced visions, incestuous episodes, strangely hollow screaming fits, or the exposed penis can, ultimately allowing the play to live up to its grand themes of forgiveness and finally, letting go.
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