Temperatures flare on "Tu Ternura Molotov"

         On Friday, Nov. 12, Patricia Gonzalez y La Compania de Teatro Antagónica presented the play, "Tu Ternura Molotov." The play adapted by Spanish Graduate student Abel de los Santos, produced by Professor Patricia Gonzalez and directed by Luz Martinez. Starring in the play were protagonists Lilia Eskildsen as Victoria, a wife whose identity is threatened by the arrival of a mysterious box that reveals part of a secret past, and Manuel Moya as Daniel, the husband and lawyer who seems to go through an identity crisis on his own, questioning his religious views and finally being haunted by the past of his wife, as well as his own. This comedy was presented at Texas A&M International University Student Center Auditorium.

          Both actors performed flawlessly and provided the audience with the perfect blend of comic relief and drama in over an hour of intense dialogue. On the first act, the main plot revolves around the idea of the couple trying to conceive, as she waits for the right temperature for ovulation. However, the arrival of a mysterious box from New York, on behalf of the FBI, complicates her marriage. The audience was surprised to find out that the content inside the box included Victoria's keepsakes from 12 years ago such as her favorite pair of jeans and her old backpack filled with a teddy bear named Georgina. The evidence found in the box revealed Victoria's most well kept secret: a previous marriage. Immediately, she defends her behavior by explaining to Daniel that back then she was young, naïve, and impulsive. The only reason why Victoria married a man of Arabian descent was because of the incredible sex they had.

          On the last act of the play Daniel accuses Victoria of being a terrorist, of plotting against people of Jewish lineage, and of threatening their own marriage, which he now considers is invalid. To Daniel, Victoria's love is like a Molotov bomb. A second box arrives, now addressed to Daniel. This second box contained a Winnie the Pooh blanket with bloodstains on it, leaving the audience to interpret their own ending. It is in the midst of procreation, with cultural notions of racism, religion, identity and ideals that we as a society construct that the couple is threaten by realities of the past that is changing their future together. "Tu Ternura Molotov" is a clear picture of morality as it plays with taboo subjects and fear of the unknown.

(Nahuel Morales may be reached at nahuel.morales@live.com)