By snoadmin
The University Players begins its 2012 season with a searing family drama, “Sonia Flew.” The play centers around a woman who fears her family is about to fall apart because of pride, war and forgiveness.
As the play opens with a monologue, the audience gets a glimpse of the history and background of Sonia (Jenna Skeva), a Cuban refugee who was forced to leave her family 40 years prior. The play then shifts to 2001, during the wake of Sept. 11, where she is shown with a family of her own — a Jewish husband, a teenage daughter and a son, who plans on serving his country in the military. However, he has yet to tell his mother for fear that she may not approve.
During the first act, the family is anxious and concerned about making sure a perfect evening is set in motion for their Jewish grandfather, Sam (Benji Kaufman), to arrive for their Shabbat dinner. The family practically bends over backwards to ensure that Grandpa Sam enjoys the religious dinner, even though the family doesn’t practice it on a regular basis.
Although Kaufman may be a man in his 20s, he definitely nails the role of an old, Jewish grandpa with his thick accent and exuberant hand gestures, which has the audience laughing.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the hectic dinner preparation, Sonia’s children discuss a secret, portraying the typical brother/sister relationship intertwined with fights and banter. Sonia’s son, Zak (Andrew Leben), has decided to join the Marines after the tragic Sept. 11 attacks. Although Zak mentions his decision to his sister, father and grandfather, he has yet to tell his mother.
Unfortunately, Zak decides to tell his mother during the Shabbat dinner, and Sonia has an angry, dramatic outburst and cannot understand why in the world he would want to enlist in the armed forces.
She exclaims “Sure, maybe the Peace Corps, but why must you use ammunition?”
What Sonia’s children do not understand is that she fled her own country during the Cuban regime in the 1960s, but not by choice.
The play moves the setting to Cuba, during the 1960s, in order to hear Sonia’s side of the story — a story that she has never been able to reveal to her children before.
Her parents forced her to escape the country as part of Operation Pedro Pan, the largest recorded exodus of unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere, where over 14,000 Cuban youths arrived alone in the United States.
Playwright Melinda Lopez interestingly alludes to the classic Peter Pan fairytale, by having Sonia perform a monologue about how her mother would tell her that story.
“Why would Peter Pan’s mother not leave the window open for him,” Sonia asked, as she wondered how a mother could forget about her child that easily.
After the separation of her family in Cuba, Sonia never thought this would happen to her own family.
“It’s an incredibly powerful play, having a lot to do with the breakdown of the family system and the family as a unit,” said Luke Yankee, director. “All of these characters have tremendous pride and tremendous egos, in a sense that end up being their downfall. The Greeks talk about hubris, that sense of overweening pride, and I think that’s definitely true for these characters.”
“Sonia Flew” will run for 15 performances, closing on March 17. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. The production is in the Players’ Theater on the CSULB South Campus, accessible via West Campus Drive. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $12 for seniors and students (with valid ID). For tickets and information, visit csulb.edu/depts/theater.
