The Clash - Police On My Back

My Significant Other -- she really is like the Other part of me -- and I saw Electricidad this weekend at the Mark Taper Forum. Wonderful play. It was basically the Electra story updated to East LA Cholo culture. It managed to be very local in time and place -- the action takes place only about 5 miles from the theater -- and yet very classic and mythological at the same time. The playwright, Luis Alfaro, did a great job in balancing the Spanglish used by the characters, the hilarious contemporary culture references, all the stuff that made it immediate and palpable to us Angelenos, with the timeless elements of tragedy. It's a great examination of being true to one's culture while yet at the same time being true to one's soul. Each of the characters has motivation and cause for their actions, each has a fatal flaw, and although you know the tragic heartrending violent end is coming when you sit down, it's no less painful and tragic when it comes.