Soft & Strikingly Cinematic "Mermaid" is a Captivating Solo Experience
Thursday, June 20th, Los Angeles, CA
written by Entertainment Editor, Dan Ruth
Part of what makes a theatre festival such as The Hollywood Fringe so enjoyable for me, is being connected or introduced to so many world cultures and traditions. Italome Ohikhuare has created Mermaid as a love letter to her native Nigeria, but what begins as an innocent story about heading back home to Nigeria to be in her cousin’s wedding, soon turns dark. Draped in white and carrying a floral wreath, our main character, Sirah, enters the space bearing gifts for her audience. In an instant, she is charming, warm and relatable, even though she’s about as happy to return home as she is about being a bridesmaid to begin with, in a word, she hates the idea. To add to this dilemma, Sirah is not well and that’s where Mermaid begins to unfold.
Sirah believes that her family is cursed, a notion that is sadly rooted partially in perceived truth, and what follows is a highly detailed and beautifully told tale, full of mysticism and spiritual hubris, wedging Sirah between her evangelical Christian mother and her Auntie Grace, and their opposing spiritual tenants. While her mother has insisted she go through a Christian “deliverance,” her Auntie Grace knows better; that the curse is because Sirah’s family, upon moving to the land of slavery, has displeased the great water goddess, Mami Wata. What follows is a search for the truth, as to who Sirah is, why she’s ill, why she’s lost other family members, and why Sirah’s cousin has asked her to the wedding in the first place. As the story plays out, we realize that Sirah’s returning to her home, just might be the very thing that saves her life and breaks the curse that has long-weighed her family down.
Ohikhuare’s performance is both soft and riveting, full of mesmerizing imagery and haunting eloquence. She turns a dark myth into personal redemption in a spellbinding performance, where all characters are clear and precise and the pallet from which Ohikhuare paints this story is bright, sun and moon-drenched and dare I say, strikingly cinematic. I applaud her as well for not using devices so often used by the solo performance community, as it’s well within Ohikhuare’s power as a gifted writer and storyteller to paint any image and to transport us with her words alone. As she was describing her cousin’s wedding dress, I was there with her, seeing and touching the bright red fabric and gold stitching. To give away more would be doing this powerful production an injustice, as Mermaid needs to be experienced.
Mermaid is a glorious and highly entertaining show that I believe is close to selling out, if is hasn’t done so already. I truly hope they can hand this production a few more performances at the Broadwater Studio. Mermaid is beautifully directed by Matthew Singletary.
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