[rating=3] Try to imagine that you have been locked up in prison for a number of years, with little or no contact with family and friends. I know it is hard to imagine for most of us, but take it to the next level. You are being paroled. You are excited and afraid. How will people react to you? How will you react to them? Nancy Garcia Loza’s “Bull: A Love Story” now onstage at Paramount Theatre’s Copley Stage in Aurora as part of their BOLD SERIES, takes us into the life of Bull ( deftly handled by Eddie Martinez) who has just been paroled and has come back to his home, which in reality is the home of his ex-wife and daughter. She has a man residing with her and while Bull thinks of this as “his house”, in reality, it is not.
Early in the story we meet Tio ( an incredible comic performance by Sammy A. Publes) who is sort of a handyman and resides down the street. He kind of convinces Bull to convert the garage into his living quarters. This is where I need to talk about the set (Yeaji Kim does a masterful job) which has what appears to be a Chicago brick “bungalow” on the stage along with a one car garage. I guess it would have been much more realistic to have the garage wall be turned around when conversion to living quarters. They end up setting the furniture outside the garage which had some people confused. Was he sleeping on the driveway? NOTE: the Other man ( one of the roles played by Andrew Perez) had a new car that had to move out to make room for Bull.
Bull’s sister, Sadie ( played to perfection by Alexandra Casilas) spends a lot of time with him in trying to get him back to normal. The neighborhood has changed. The old days are gone and she is now a biker. Bull’s ex, Sol (Kelsey Elyse Rodriguez is powerful) is having a problem with Bull’s new lifestyle and his daughter Emme (Jocelyn Zamudo) is very confused about what is happening.
Smoothly directed by Laura Alcala Baker the play is in two acts with the first act being 40 minutes and the second one hour and 25 minutes. To be honest, although we are covering over a year I believe this could be a 100 minute no intermission script that would keep the story strong for the audience members ( but that is just a thought).
What we witness during these scenes is the development of the family relationship as well as Bull’s transition into normal life ( with all the changes that his years away missed). We also meet his parole officer (Perez again) as well his brother ( another Perez character). I for one did not realize that he played all three of these roles, so he is quite an actor. The tech aspects of the show, other than my remarks about the garage wall idea are right on target. Izumi Inaba’s costumes, Cat Wilson’s lighting, Jeffrey Levin’s sound, Aimee Plant’s props and Liviu Pasare’s projection designs all helped to make the part of the play fit.
This is indeed a “love story”. While it is different than what we are used to, perhaps it is time for us to be exposed to things that are not a part of our normal lives. “Bull: A Love Story” is just that and I think you will truly love the ending.
“Bull: A Love Story” will continue at The Copley Theatre thru November 20th with performances as follows:
Wednesdays:1:30pm & 7:00pm
Thursdays:7:00pm
Fridays:8:00pm
Saturdays:2:00pm & 8:00pm
Sundays:1:00pm & 5:30pm
Stage: Copley Theatre as part of the DESTINOS program
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