Las Comedias Lead Off For Teatro de la Luna

"Wild Bikini" Stars Popular Uruguayan Actress

Actress and comedienne Graciela Rodríguez tries on more than a dozen personalities but not a bathing suit in "How to Fill a Wild Bikini."

Teatro de la Luna, Arlington's Spanish-language theater company, is launching its 16th season with a three-play series called "A Celebration of Hispanic Theater."

The first installment, now onstage at the Gunston Arts Center, is a one-woman comedy by Brazilian playwright Miguel Falabella called "Como Rellenar un Bikini Salvaje," or "How to Fill a Wild Bikini." The production is from the visiting Regina Productions of Montevideo, Uruguay, and stars popular Uruguayan actress and comedienne Graciela Rodríguez. She has returned to the local theater following her appearance in "I May Not be Happy, but at Least I'm Married" during this past year's International Festival of Hispanic Theater.

There are no bikinis in "How to Fill a Wild Bikini," as Rodríguez fills only a simple, although flamboyantly red jumpsuit during the 80-minute performance. But the energetic comedienne does try on more than a dozen personalities as she explores such themes as conflict between parents and children and the disconnection and loneliness of life in a modern city. Following a somber opening that has her entering the performance area from behind the audience, chanting what seems to be a monologue from ancient Greek tragedy, Rodríguez abruptly switches course and launches into an earthy stream-of-consciousness look at life today.

While Uruguayan Embassy officials and other members of the local Uruguayan community on hand opening night laughed heartily at a number of topical references that passed right over the heads of the rest of us, most of the characters and territory covered in the show seem familiar enough. Rodríguez assumes different voices and personas ranging from her basic character, an everywoman named Mabel, to other people who both delight and bedevil her, including a daughter who sounds like an American valley girl -- in Spanish, of course.

Under direction by Uruguayan actor-director-playwright Omar Varela, Rodríguez is highly animated, moving around and either sitting or reclining on top of a low bench that is her only prop. The show seems tailor-made for her talents, and, in fact, she toured in it for about five years, winning several top Latin American acting awards.

Teatro de la Luna has returned to simultaneous English translation, via comfortable headsets, for this series, following use of projected surtitles in a number of recent productions. The live audio translation is superior, especially as provided here by agile and energetic Marcela Ferlito Walder, as audience members do not have to take their eyes off the actors to try to read what they're saying. The audio feed blends seamlessly into the presentation. Unfortunately, the company will probably return to surtitles for future plays, finding it generally easier to program a translation into the projection system instead of staffing each performance with translators.

"How to Fill a Wild Bikini" continues this weekend, and then Rodríguez will return with Fernando Larrosa in Regina Productions' "Suelta, Ardiente y Peligrosa," or "On the Loose, Hot and Dangerous, by Varela, Oct. 26-Nov. 4. It's another comedy from Uruguay with two actors portraying a variety of friends and family members in comic social critique.

This show will be followed by Bojiganga Theater Company of Mexico City and its production of " Romina y el Bellini," or "Romina and the Circus Bellini," Nov. 9-18. The play, written and directed by Alejandro Velis and starring Mexico's Verónica Albarrán and Mitzi Elizalde, is a collage of impressions that show the path of a clown's life in the circus.

"A Celebration of Hispanic Theater," presented by Teatro de la Luna, continues through Nov. 18, at Gunston Arts Center's Theatre Two, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington. Showtime is 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with matinees at 3 p.m. Saturday. Tickets for Friday and Saturday nights are $30; $25 for students and seniors over 60; for Thursdays and Saturday matinees, $25; $20 for students and seniors. For information and reservations, call 703-548-3092 or visithttp://www.teatrodelaluna.org.