Jackie, who desires of settling down with Veronica, an addict, spies a person’s hat on her nightstand.
“That ain’t my hat,” he growls, and will get fired as much as do battle—together with her, the proprietor of the headgear and his personal internal demons.
The distinction between Romeo and Juliet and the star-crossed Puerto Rican lovers in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ “The Motherf—- with the Hat,” onstage in a Left Edge Theatre manufacturing in Santa Rosa, is that Shakespeare’s tragedy focuses on unadulterated younger love, whereas “Mother” is seen by means of a prism of affection desecrated by medication, alcohol and sexual dishonest.
“Motherf—-,” which packs a wallop, is devilishly humorous within the first act (an early scene has Jackie sniffing their hand-me-down mattress to search out smells of betrayal). But it’s a poignant and heartrending unfunny drama within the second (“We’re broken,” insists Veronica).
This tragicomedy can’t assist however make you assume. Every of the dysfunctional, multidimensional dimensional characters—all maybe troublesome to narrate to for individuals who didn’t develop up with their sort of individuals or toyed with their sort of twisted morality—has complicated depth, regardless of the torrent of f-bombs.
L-R, Danny Bañales and Mercedes Murphy seem in Left Edge Theatre’s “The Motherf—- with the Hat” onstage in Santa Rosa by means of Feb. 22, 2025. (Courtesy Dana Hunt/Left Edge Theatre by way of Bay Metropolis Information)
They lie whereas craving honesty. All swear with abandon and relish intercourse as if it have been the one life-force value contemplating. All of the whereas, they’re on principally futile quests for loving relationships.
The play affords philosophical tidbits whereas spewing language of the streets. But there’s nonetheless room for a line like, “It’s funny how a person can be more than one thing, ain’t it?” Or for a girl to explain her man as having “a PhD in self-loathing” or to say about herself, “I’ve got about 10 minutes more of gravity before it all comes crashing down.”
Directed by Serena Elize Flores, The Left Edge forged is notable.
Danny Bañales artfully, and with deft slapstick, performs Jackie, a parolee alcoholic who struggles bodily and mentally. Mercedes Murphy passionately portrays Veronica as somebody who can’t assist going previous the purple strains society has imposed on her. Isiah Carter is strong as Ralph D, the delicate, 12-step sponsor who befriends Jackie. Grace Kent as Victoria, Ralph D’s annoyed spouse, is stuffed with dichotomies. Sergio Diaz is Jackie’s homosexual, sex-addicted cousin Julio, a man hell-bent on proving his manhood.
The 105-minute (plus-intermission) present is a rarity. It options fleeting male nudity and avoids feminine nudity. However its mainstay is bare emotion. Within the ultimate evaluation, that’s nothing to chuckle at.
“The Motherf—- with the Hat” continues by means of Feb. 22 at Left Edge Theatre, 528 Seventh St., Santa Rosa. Tickets are $33 to $44 at leftedgetheatre.com.
