“Water By The Spoonful” is the second part of a trilogy by Quiara Alegria Hudes that won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for drama. It straddles and intertwines two story lines: one about a wounded Iraq war veteran struggling mentally with what happened during his tour of duty, the loss of a loved one and his interactions with family and drugs. The second thread of the plot involves a group of deeply flawed characters, each with a load of personal baggage, involved in an online chatroom where they try and help each other over the difficult road to staying off crack.
Hudes has movingly taken difficult subjects and interlaced humor with pathos to bring in a strong story that touches the heart.
Miles Gaston Villanueva, Sabina Zuniga Varela, George Psarras, Zilah Mendoza, Anna Ishida, Anthony J. Haney and Patrick Kelly Jones all deliver strong performances.
Leslie Martinson’s direction moves this fine cast with a firm hand through difficult times and their reach for hope in restaurants, chatrooms and in a heartrending bathtub scene.
Scenic designer Erik Flatmo’s interesting three-story set serves as apartments and offices for the characters and helps connect them with Erik Scanlon’s projections of TV, Internet and news at the center of the set to bring a clearer idea of what is happening at that moment.
“Water By The Spoonful” is well-written and full of interesting plot lines and will give some “a-ha” moments that will tie the story together.
Camille Bounds is the theatre columnist for the Morgan Hill Times, Gilroy Dispatch and Hollister Free Lance. She can be reached at bo******@co********.net.
