SHEPHERDS AND ZANIES

posted by James Reel

    Two new plays opened in Tucson last weekend. Well, actually, they’re old plays, with a twist. First is Borderlands Theater’s annual update of the old Latin American pastorela, which somehow in the Tucson Weekly editing process got turned into “pastorella”:

    So you walk into this family theater show, and they hand you a glossary so you'll understand all the references. Right after Harry Potter comes Pol Pot; the last few items, in order, are Idi Amin, Randy Graf, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Paris Hilton and FEMA. On your way out, after the cast of shepherds and angels and devils has sung Christmas carols in Spanish and kids in the audience have whacked candy out of a piñata, the ushers try to give you a yard sign that says "Humanitarian aid is never a crime."
    It's right-wing talk-radio's worst nightmare: A Tucson Pastorella, telling the shepherds' role in the Christmas story while exposing children and adults alike to 90 minutes of cockeyed liberal outrage and frisky community activism. The shepherds are undocumented Mexican migrant workers, and God is on their side.

    Tucson Theatre Ensemble, just launching its third season, had evaded my attention until now. I wasn't sure what to expect when I was invited to its production of Carlo Goldoni's The Servant of Two Masters, but suspected I'd be seeing the work of a dedicated but amateurish community group.
    The good news is that the company's Goldoni show is thoroughly respectable and generally enjoyable. It isn't as polished as productions by the likes of Invisible Theatre or newcomer Beowulf Alley, but there's some good talent at work here, especially in the principal roles. The main problem, aside from some stiffness in the minor parts and a few awkward interactions, is something that could afflict any company: an uneven tone, an uncertainty at the ensemble's various creative levels about exactly what sort of comedy this should be.