Each of the four characters in Martyna Majok’s play, “Cost of Living,” is in some ways privileged, and in others marginalized. Both Ani (Christine Bruno) and John (Matty Placencia) are confined to wheelchairs. Ani is a quadriplegic who can move only a single finger as a result of an accident; John has muscular dystrophy. Ani’s privileges are a sharp intellect and an emotional maturity that enables her to effectively act as her own fierce advocate. John is movie-star handsome, brilliant enough to be a graduate student at Princeton University, and obviously wealthy.
Their caregivers are also living life with mixed baggage. Eddie (Daniel Duque-Estrada), Ani’s ex-husband and present caregiver, is a recovering addict/alcoholic and that is the source of his strength as well as his burden. Jess (Carla Gallard) has a degree from Princeton, but faces discrimination as a poor woman of color, and struggles to make ends meet.
Each of them is trying to make a life in their own particular way under their own particular circumstances, constantly negotiating the cost of living. The play is a character study of four survivors. The question is: can they make it? It is a question that goes unanswered, for the most part. In three instances, we are left to ponder their futures. I’ll leave the fourth instance for you to discover when you attend.
The play is beautifully written and marvelously well-executed by a company of actors who achieve extraordinary levels of excellence. It opens with a lengthy monologue delivered by Daniel Duque-Estrada as Eddie, which is an acting tour de force: intimate, riveting, natural, and engaging. Duque-Estrada, an actor with extensive experience, is in perfect control.
Less experienced actor, Matty Placencia, as John, is equally impressive. Placencia has been a film student at UCLA where they performed in several projects, but this production is their debut as a stage actor and it is more than auspicious. They are called upon to build a character full of contradictions, both charming and a snob, both profoundly disabled and physically graceful. Placencia hits all the notes.
Christine Bruno is a fine actor and a fierce activist for actors with disabilities (Chair of the NY Local SAG-AFTRA Performers with Disabilities Committee). She is a lifetime member of The Actors Studio with an impressive resume as both a performer and a teaching artist. When she and Duque Estrada work together as Ani and Eddie, the chemistry is off the charts.
Carla Gallardo is sharp as a tack in her performance as Jess, a character with a tough outside and a vulnerable inside. This is the sort of character that could be too easily “phoned in” by an actor, but Gallardo makes sure that every detail is true.
All in all, these four actors make a truly exceptional ensemble.
Emilie Whelan’s direction is insightful and polished. I do have one complaint: the set includes a large coat rack which gets a lot of use. Unfortunately, it is placed in such a way that it blocks many of the most intimate scenes so that I, at least, could not see the actors’ faces at all. I hope something is done about that.
“Cost of Living” is more than worth the cost of a ticket. Go see it!
“Cost of Living” plays at Oakland Theater Project through March 24. For further information, click here.
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Rating: ***** (For an explanation of Theatrestorm’s rating scale, click here.)
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“The Cost of Living” by Martyna Majok. Bay area premiere by Oakland Theater Project. Director: Emilie Whelan. Set Designer: Emilie Whelan. Prop Designer: Lilia Kuroda. Costume Designer: Marina Polakoff. Lighting Designer: Kevin Myrick. Sound Designer: Ray Archie.
Cast:
Jess: Carla Gallardo. John: Matty Placencia. Eddie: Daniel Duque-Estrada. Ani: Christine Bruno.
TheatreStorm 