Santa Maria Sun / Art

Shakespearean winter comes to Spanish California

BY SHELLY CONE

Showing the way Catalina Maynard, as Paulina, is a wise and mysterious Mestizo woman who acts as a guide to a young, modern-day couple facing turmoil in their relationship. PHOTO COURTESY LUIS ESCOBAR REFLECTIONS PHOTOGRAPHY

Though the name of the play is Invierno—the Spanish word for winter—the production is hot with emotion. The story is about the mistakes we make, and about redemption and forgiveness, and about acknowledging that even though we move forward, scars remain.

Invierno begins with a young, modern-day woman (Sabrina Cavalletto) trying to hang herself. Her boyfriend (Cody Craven) finds her, and the tale of their troubled relationship unfolds from there. Mysteriously, they’re approached by a Mestizo woman named Paulina (Catalina Maynard) and transported 200 years into the past to participate in another story that seems to parallel their own.

Time travelers Cody Craven and Sabrina Cavaletto play a young couple trying to sort out their relationship problems and are taken 200 years into the past where they participate in a story close to their own. PHOTO COURTESY LUIS ESCOBAR REFLECTIONS PHOTOGRAPHY

Invierno is a newly commissioned work by González, author of The Heart’s Desire. He wrote it specifically for PCPA. The story was inspired by Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. González said the story retains Shakespeare’s examination that begins with the pain of mistakes, turns into regret and sorrow over a loss, and ultimately ends in forgiveness.

This new story does indeed end with love and forgiveness, but the ride to redemption is a rough one.

As Don Leon, Gallegos straddles the line between inspiring hatred and earning pity. He easily generates outrage and adopts an almost villainous status as he casts his pregnant wife into jail. His anger becomes frightening as he later takes her days-old infant in its cradle and threatens to crush it on the rocks. Yet as he fights with his soul about whether to tell his wife he loves her and whether to believe the baby is his—and as he sees the consequences of his mistakes—he comes across as fragile. Gallegos’ performance makes a big emotional impact; it’s heart-wrenching.

Winter is here Invierno will play through Sept. 19. At the Severson Theatre in Santa Maria. For tickets and more information, call 922-8313

The heavy storyline is given some levity by the antics of Vaquero (Peter S. Hadres), an amiable old sheepherder and Alejandro (Leo Cortez), a tall-tale-telling thief.

The entire tale is blanketed by the era of the Californios and the tension that surrounds the Mexican-American War. Gonzalez explores the story with a multi-cultural subtext common to many of his works. The result is the message that no matter who we are, our actions, whether physical or emotional, leave scars that we all have to overcome.

Arts Editor Shelly Cone likes verano. Send comments to scone@santamariasun.com.