“NI MI MADRE” : AN ODE TO MOTHERHOOD

 Diversionary Theatre in Hillcrest is currently mounting “Ni Mi Madre” a funny, sad, clever and truthful tour de force with writer-performer Arturo Luíz Soria’s one person theatre piece about ‘life with mother’ if you will. But it’s more than that. It transitions into a tribute to his Brazilian Mother who lives in Miami. 

Hobbling about on an injured heel, recently hurt during rehearsals, with a cane, glittery boot and surrounded by a garden of foliage, a vanity and mirror and a full sized portrait of a Brazilian  goddess hanging in the background with a religious imagery, (Stephanie Osin), Soria begins his memory tale about his mother whom he calls ‘Bete’. To emphasize, he writes the word on the mirror in lipstick. 

And for the next 55 minutes we learn about Bete, her three husbands and her five children whom she physically abuses. There is jealousy  between his one sister who has her father's darker features and Arturo with his mother’s lighter skin.  To top it off, his Madre drinks to excess.  Arturo is the most challenging, of her children.  He comes out at a young age and wants dancing lessons, which she gives him,  over the objections of his macho Ecuadorian father.

Using humor and speaking in both English and Portuguese to recall the darkest  of times, Arturo manages to get us  through the most difficult of times without leaving anything out. 

Soria’s Obie Award winning show premiered off -Broadway at Rattlesnake Playwrights Theatre in 2021and now making a west coast at Diversionary Theatre under the deft direction of Danilo Gambini with Haydee Zelideth’s costume (a white off the shoulder dress, Kathy Ruvuna’s sound allowing Soria to sing songs from JLo to Madonna to Whitney, Krista Smith, lighting, with Anthony Garcia’s props and Samantha Espino as Stage Manager. 

No difficult task, this, telling our own personal story, warts and all to a group of strangers hoping it will find the ears and minds to reflect on our own upbringing and the stories that lie hidden from public. 

I’m sure that my brother and I and of course my own children will have their own versions to tell and Oh! will they be, as seen through their eyes, very different from one another. 

Arturo Luiz Soria (before his injured heel)

“Ni Mi Madre” will be playing through Sept. 6th.

Enjoy.

See you at the theatre.

When:  Runs through Sept. 6. 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays

Where: Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Blvd., University Heights

Photo: Xingyu She

Tickets: $32-$72

Phone: 619-220-0097

Online: diversionary.org