Family, Friction, Food and Frolic All Jam Packed into “Stir” at The Old Globe.

The Old Globe in Balboa Park is mounting a world premiere production of “Stir” on the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in the round through May 26th. Deftly directed by Marcela  Lorca  and co-written by friends Melinda Lopez (Mariana) and Joel Perez (Henry), who also co- star. “Stir” is about food, family, frolic and  friction.

Melinda Lopez, Al Rodrigo, Joel Perez

Food has always been a panacea for love for my family. As a youngster I remember my grandmother (Bubbie) standing over a large pot of chicken soup all day long skimming the fat off the top. My guess is that her mother before her did the same; my mother did it and so did yours truly up to a point. My Dad owned a grocery and Deli and his love of food was in the way he handled it. My oldest daughter bakes Challah, my youngest daughter is a chef by profession and my middle daughter is always praised for her BBQ chicken. You might have noticed that the person writing this has absolutely no cooking prowess and she likes it that way. 

"Stirs" center is about many things: an old family recipe, ‘Classic Cuban Black Beans’ (the recipe is in the program) that brother and sister remember was the food the family ate when funds were low and when on camping trips in the White Mountains of New Hampshire when they were young; the Pandemic, isolation, and memories. 

Joel Perez with green pepper

As adults, Mariana lives in Upstate N.Y. with her soon to be divorced husband (their 2 adult daughters are out of the house) and Henry lives in Orlando, Fla. with their father, Papi (an authentic Al Rodrigo) in a senior retirement home. He went there to help his father with his sick mother and never left. Add to that the isolation brought on us by the Pandemic and you have a lot going on in this 90 or so minute show.  

Henry is gay and single right now. Both he and his father wrangle about where to scatter their mother’s ashes. Henry wants to spread his mother’s ashes in N.H. (his happy place) to finally put her to rest. Papi is not  O.K. with that. Now, ‘stir’ in the fact that the country has just gone through the roughest years of Covid 19, their mother's death. Mariana is still frozen in time. She has not left her house in 4 months and has  gone through cash and personal items like her car to pay for the divorce and is ready to sell their mother’s prized piano. 

Joel Perez, Melinda Lopez and Al Rodrigo

Brother and sister communicate through Zoom while sharing the Black Bean recipe. Yes, they are actually cooking on stage every step of the way. We see the steam coming from the fry pan, smell the onions as they are being diced and watch them ‘Stir’ the pot so as not to let anything burn especially their emotions.  

Commissioned by the Old Globe in their ‘Powers New Voices Festival’ along with “English’ and “Age Of innocence”, “Stir” was a  long time coming (16 weeks) because  both friends were out of work due to Covid. So, what do creative friends, living in different parts of the country, do? Why they Zoom. 

Melinda Lopez on Zoom

Just as an FYI, I still do Zoom classes with my friends, but we know in advance what we will be talking about. In “Stir’, it’s a crap shoot as to what will come up between sharing and cooking a recipe, airing out events that happened between siblings with different memories (I have that in my house)  

while still keeping the conversations and tensions above board before closing the computer down.

Scenic designer Diggle and Production Stage Manager Chandra R.M.S Anthenill cleverly designed the set so that there are two working tables almost mirroring each other with ingredients for the bean recipe, pots, pans, running water,  stove top, storage areas and space for the actors to move around in their ‘own space while never getting in the others’ way. They also carry their laptops so there is continuing talking to each other. Some of the script calls for Spanish but not so that an audience member would have to understand, it goes in and out so fast. 

Credit to lighting designer, Cha See, costumes by Christopher Vergara, and sound by Fabian Obispo. 

Joel Perez and Melinda Lopez

“Stir’ is both charming and funny, has great energy, and brings the past into view, all with a different take. Yes, we all felt isolated, frustrated, and lived in fear, but as we move on, we can look back and assess where we are now, and hopefully smile at our progress and the silly things we did to keep the home fires burning. "Stir" does all that and some.

Enjoy!

See you at the theatre.

When: Runs through May 26. 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays 

Where: Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, @The Old Globe.

 1363 Old Globe Way, Balboa Park

Tickets: $33 and up

Phone: (619) 234-5623

Photo: Rich Soublet II

Online: theoldglobe.org