This article was first published in www.neontommy.com
“Lagrimas de Agua Dulce,” or “Tears of Sweet Water” fully utilizes what theater as an art form uniquely offers—the ability to interact with its audience. “Tears of Sweet Water” is a play for the young and
old alike, with components to keep both parts of the audience engaged.
The play begins with a woman (played by Ana Zavala) in a traditional Mexican attire—skirt, apron, braided hair and a blouse with puffed sleeves—introducing herself to the viewers as an old woman who talks to herself to keep loneliness at bay.
She then goes on to tell the story of her granddaughter Sofia, by introducing puppets of Sofia and her friend Filipe. Zavala plays out a scene between Sofia and Filipe where Sofia confesses that when she cries, she cries buckets and her tears are sweet. Zavala gives life to her puppets by depicting their humanistic characteristics and mimicking their childlike voices. Within seconds, we forget Ana and start following the puppets.Sofia lives in a small village called Icuiricui that faces a severe draught one particular year. When the elders in her village including her father Jose, the Mayor, and the Priest learn about the peculiarity of Sofia’s tears, they realize they could make Sofia cry and use her tears as water. The rest of the play is about how all of them exploit her for their selfish needs.
There is a powerful scene when Sofia asks her father if she could go to her friend Filipe’s house to play and her father denies her request, saying that she needs to “work,” meaning that she must to cry more. In this ironic scene, Sofia cries to her father, complaining that she is tired of crying. Her father says, “Don’t cry Sofia. Don’t cry. There is no way to collect your tears here.”
The play is heart-wrenching and poignant without being heavy. This treatment is in sync with the 24th Street Theatre’s vision for Theatre for Young Audience—not shying away from difficult, sensitive or unpleasant topics, but portraying them in a way that is palatable to the audience. The use of puppets instead of real characters is effective here because puppets lend a fable-like quality to the play. We hear about Sofia crying buckets and buckets for hours everyday, but it doesn’t have the same effect on us as it would if we saw a real human being cry so much, since it’s easy for viewers to suspend disbelief when watching puppets.
In another interesting scene, the Mayor of the village shows off an elaborate apparatus that could make children cry by using a “spanker machine” and then “distill” their salty tears to produce sweet water. This scene is chilling, as it makes it clear that Sofia is representative of Mother Nature. Sofia’s gift is abused and exploited, just like we as human beings are exploiting natural resources.
The scene transitions and props used throughout the play are simple and powerful, such as when Zavala pulls out the woolen coat of a sheep and we see its skeleton, indicating the village is undergoing a draught, or when Zavala turns a chair around and we see the elaborate apparatus to manufacture water from children’s tears.
But the best thing about the play is the fact that Zavala keeps talking to her audience, especially the children, and keeps them engaged throughout the show. She asks them to help Jose count his money, make animal noises when the drought is over and remind her about where she is in the play. Her questions to the audience and her witty reactions to their comments make the play as much of a conversation as it is a performance.
“Tears of Sweet Water” is Spanish-language play with English supertitles and that played at the 24th Street Theatre (1117 West 24th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007) on October 12th and 13th. More information about the play, the community theater and other productions can be found at 24thStreet.org.
Reach Staff Reporter Sinduja Rangarajan here.
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