Living la vida homo

9-1999

"The play is about how being Hispanic and being gay are all part of an individual's total identity," says actor John Arndt

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by Kaizaad Kotwal

Columbus-Pedro Almodovar, one of Spain's most celebrated film directors, created a cult classic with his camp movie Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. The movie, like all of his other films, celebrates what it means to be an outsider, and it revels in gender and sexual power. On this side of the Atlantic, Guillermo Reyes has created the male side of Almodovar's world in the play Men on the Verge of a Hispanic Breakdown.

Columbus's Act Out Productions is producing Reyes's one-man show starring John Arndt and directed by Frank Barnhart. When Barnhart produced Pageant, the riotously funny look at the "other face" of beauty contests, at Out on Main restaurant's upstairs venue, little did he realize that he might start a tradition.

Because Pageant was such a success, the owners of Out on Main said that "We would love to have a performance here every weekend," according to Barnhart. While the space has its challenges, Barnhart hope to continue doing things there as long as the pieces fit the location.

"It forces you to use your imagination," Barnhart said.

Men on the Verge of a His-panic Breakdown is a series of comedic monologues which chronicle the lives of various Latino immigrants dealing with the trans-cultural shock of race and gender identity known as the "Hispanic Breakdown."

The play is bracketed by the misadventures of the naïve Federico, or "the Gay Little Immigrant that Could," who arrives in Los Angeles during the first day of the 1992 riots.

Other characters include Vinnie, a kept boy being asked to leave the home of his sugar daddy; Edward, a Latino actor passing for Anglo; Paco, a Cuban restaurateur who was imprisoned by the Communists for being gay; a stuffy, sexually repressed English-as-a-second-language teacher; and La Gitana, a drag flamenco dancer struggling with AIDS.

When Barnhart was doing his own oneman show off-Broadway, he saw Men on the Verge of a His-panic Breakdown, and decided “immediately that I would do this play hinging on the fact that I could find a Hispanic actor to play the role."

Central Ohio is not exactly a haven for ethnic theatre and as such, ethnic actors are hard to find. But Barnhart was lucky to have

found John Arndt, an actor who has worked "with just about every theatre group here in Columbus." Barnhart and Arndt have worked together before and Arndt is moving to Chicago soon so Barnhart "wanted one more opportunity to work with John before he left town."

Arndt is looking forward to his move to the Windy City's "gigantic theatre scene which is a stepping stone

for a lot of actors who eventually go on to work in L.A. and New York."

"But what I will miss about Columbus," Arndt explained, "is the environment, because I am someone who like to feel connected and I have made a lot of good friends here."

Although Arndt's origins are Hispanic, his grandmother's divorce from his Mexican grandfather cut him off from being raised in that culture. As such, Men on the Verge of a His-panic Breakdown is proving to be a sort of coming home for Arndt as he gets back in touch with his roots and his sense of ethnic identity. In fact, the play deals a lot with Hispanic people who have lost their culture and Arndt identifies most strongly with this strain of Reyes's writing.

Arndt has learnt a lot in the process, and so has

Barnhart in trying to di-

rect a play that is in many ways distinctly Hispanic.

"I have done a lot of research and have had several conversations with the playwright," Barnhart said. "But, and I don't want to be cliché, there are many universals in this play that everyone can and will relate to."

Moreover, the play is not simply about being Hispanic, but it also struggles with issues of sexuality and the machismo of some aspects of Latin culture,

"The play is about how being Hispanic and being gay are all part of an individual's total identity," Arndt said.

When asked which part he identifies most strongly with, he answered, "I don't want to sound pretentious, but I identify with being me, and being Hispanic or being gay or being an actor are just smaller parts of who I am.

""

But Reyes's play is very clearly about identity politics whether it is gay identity, or Hispanic identity, or the coming together of

John Arndt

anywhere because we selves up on stage."

various identities. Barnhart has produced several oneperson shows before, like The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, but "what appealed to me about this one were the additional layers of race and ethnicity and nationality that the play deals with," he said.

Columbus audiences are not used to seeing much in the way of different ethnicities on their stages, and Barnhart agrees that "even for gay audiences this is

a perspective that most aren't familiar with."

A Hispanic radio station in Cleveland is running announcements for the show, and when Barnhart asked the station's manager if Hispanic audiences would travel to see this play, the manager answered, "We'll go see so little of our-

This is Arndt's first one-man show and as such, the demands are about "all the different characters and the details given to body gestures, rhythms and the accents." Arndt knows that this is a big load to carry on his shoulders but the rewards are all his, and Barnhart's, as well.

Men on the Verge of a His-panic Breakdown performances are at 9 pm on Fridays and Saturdays in July, upstairs at Out on Main, 122 E. Main Street in Columbus, with a cash bar during all performances. Tickets are $15; for reservations call 614-263-9448.