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"Orphans" by the Theatre Guild of Ancon
 

Left to right, Henríquez, Bruno and Nathani in a rehearsal. Photo courtesy of the Theatre Guild of Ancon

“Orphans”

by Eric Jackson

Orphans
a Lyle Kessler play
directed by Ron Leggiere*
produced by Gale Cellucci* and the Theatre Guild board of governors*
with Michael Henríquez, Amit Nathani and Roberto Bruno
assistant to the director Jean-Marie Leggiere*
stage manager Brenda Scott*
backstage help Mariela Alcoriza*
set construction Rogelio Sánchez
hair & makeup Stephanie Hurlburt
lighting Pedro Caicedo*
bar Walter Borer and Colombino Hedley
photos Roberto Joy
box office Elizabeth Borer
computer coordinator Erick Menéndez
(* denotes those who performed multiple tasks in this production, including things not mentioned here --- take a hint: this community organization could use your help!)

The Theatre Guild of Ancon traditionally plays this delicate balance.

Sometimes they do well-known, popular classics for the whole family, and fill both their little playhouse near the PTJ headquarters and their bank accounts.

But although this is a community theater group, these are people who take their crafts seriously. Most are amateurs who are honing their skills for their own sense of personal development or as a gift to Panama's English-speaking community. Every now and then there is a semi-retired professional who pitches in for the cause. And then there are people who use the Theatre Guild on their way to more celebrated roles. For examples, I mention two names whose renowned theatrical careers early on, before their renown, brought them across the stage at the Ancon Theater: Rubén Blades and Bruce Quinn. There are other professional names that could be similarly dropped.

Anyway, balanced with the more popular stuff are the more thoughtful and difficult works, wherein really good stuff plays to relatively tiny audiences. These less popular plays are almost always a Theatre Guild season's gems of first water.

'Twas thus in the Guild's difficult 2003 season, for example, when Billi Veber shone in the one-woman play by Susan Miller, "My Left Breast."

And so it was with "Orphans," one of those "artsy" plays more directed at the Guild people and a relatively smaller group of theatre aficionados. It's not a new play. In fact, the Guild did this one some years ago.

It's a tale of a penny-ante violent thug (Amit Nathani) and his somewhat retarded brother (Michael Henríquez) and their life-changing encounter with a richer and more sophisticated crook (Roberto Bruno), a man on the run from a sordid past but who along the way has picked up a sense of decency and an uncommon bit of wisdom. Right there, it's a break from the one-dimensional criminals that are the standard fare in so much of American popular culture.

In this production Ron Leggiere continued to develop his craft as a director, a role recently assumed after years of acting in Guild productions. We saw the return of mathematician / physicist / economic evelopment analyst / Mayan glyph reader / expert in colonial Panama's Italian architecture / (etc.) Roberto Bruno, one of Panama's few renaissance men, to the Theatre Guild stage after a too-long absence. We got another chance to see Amit Nathani, a bright young talent whom Theatre Guild fans first saw in the previous production, "Black Comedy." We saw another talented youngster, Michael Henríquez, who started out onstage in the International School of Panama's drama program, took time out to get a university degree, and has been back with the Guild in roles both on and off stage of late. The play was excellently done all the way around.

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