Show reviews for the week of March 26, 2012

With four shows having opened last week you would think that I would find more then just three reviews.  All for the same play no less.  As soon as I post this I know more reviews will come out.  If there are reviews out there that I have missed please mention them in the comments section or in an e-mail to our G-mail account. 


New Theatre presents Property Line by Juan C. Sanchez until April 8.  Directed by Ricky J. Martinez and features: Bill Schwartz, Evelyn Perez, Barbara Sloan, Scott Douglas Wilson, and Javier “Javi” Cabrera.

Bill Hirschman reviewed the show for Florida Theater On Stage
Juan C. Sanchez’s Property Line Is Promising But Needs Work

Comedy. Tragedy. Absurdist farce. Subtle satire. Family drama. Sociological tract about race relations. Juan C. Sanchez’s world premiere Property Line at New Theatre encompasses all this and more in an intellectually intriguing, promising script that needs a lot of work before it will gel into a satisfying evening of theater.

It’s not that all these disparate genres can’t be melded together in theory, but the script in its present form ranges so far and wide tonally that director Ricky J. Martinez and an earnest cast simply cannot make the melange credible.

Even so, acknowledge credit Sanchez’s skill that he has developed over the years, especially at the late Promethean Theatre Company, which produced his Buck Fever, Red Tide and A Bearded Lover. Sanchez has a real talent for funny dialogue as well as tender moments such as the Anglo couple teasing with each other about sex and the Hispanic mother trying to get her son to speak endearments to her in Spanish.

Sanchez also delivers a clear vision of ethnic tensions simmering under the glastnost that Miamians have constructed in the 21st Century. Further, he illustrates that Hispanics in Miami are not as simple or monolithic as Anglos might think: The teenager not only doesn’t speak much Spanish; he does not consider himself Cuban.

Christine Dolen reviewed the show for Miami Herald 
‘Property Line’ draws on bias for its laughs

Staged by New Theatre artistic director Ricky J. Martinez, Property Line starts off promisingly. Charlie (Bill Schwartz), a Baby Boomer whose hippie days live on in his head and his enjoyment of smoking weed, jauntily greets his neighbor on his way home from a bicycle ride. The widowed Blanca (Evelyn Perez) responds furiously, calling Charlie a vile name in Spanish and flipping him the double bird. What gives?

Then Sanchez sets up the affectionate, sexy yet sometimes prickly relationship of Charlie and his wife Mag (Barbara Sloan). He’s a travel writer with an unsurprising wanderlust; she’s a homebody and self-professed liberal whose prejudices don’t stay hidden for long.

Turns out Blanca’s hostility stems from a property survey. Her late hubby Guillermo, who died in a gruesome manner (pure Sanchez), discovered that the couple’s property extends 15 feet into Charlie and Mag’s yard. Blanca wants that turf, which includes an improperly placed fence and Mag’s garden. The battle, which soon involves real estate attorney Joe (Scott Douglas Wilson) and Blanca’s angry teen son Danny (Javier “Javi” Cabrera), rages through the rest of the play.

And Roger Martin Atca also reviewed the show for Miami ArtZine
Crossing the Line...In a Dozen Different Ways

There's much afoot on the set by Andrew Rodriguez-Triana; outdoors, indoors, actors rolling furniture in and out.  Lighting by Eric J. Cantrell, sound by Ozzie Quintana and costumes by K. Blair Brown.  Direction by Ricky J. Martinez.

Juan C. Sanchez has had other plays produced locally, two receiving Carbonell award nominations.  I really, really wanted to like this piece (Juan and I did Twelfth Night together many years ago), but  unfortunately Property Line does not live up to his previous work.   A tight rewrite, taking the missing kitchen sink and loading it up with all the excessive melodrama, would work wonders.

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