Life in New York’s lower depths is the subject of Stephen Adly Guirgis’s The Motherfucker with the Hat, which is now enjoying a successful run at the Gloria Gifford Conservatory in Hollywood. The play, which was first done in 2011 at NYC’s Public Theatre, looks at five friends locked into bizarrely dysfunctional relationships with each other. They’re a colorful, profane, blighted bunch, battling mightily to find a way to survive in their world, which is shot through with drugs, booze, and violence. Director Gloria Gifford has taken on this dark material in a bold, unafraid way. She has cast the play with students from her acting school, using alternating, multi-ethnic actors whose youth and fire are perfectly suited to the requirements of the script. On the night I attended, the two lead roles of Jackie and Veronica were played by Danny Siegel and Joey Marie Urbina, with a sizzling-hot chemistry. Backing them up in strong supporting roles were Keith Walker (as Ralph D., Jackie’s 12-step sponsor), Leana Chavez (as Ralph’s girlfriend, Victoria), and Christian Maltez (as Jackie’s kung-fu-loving cousin, Julio). The drama kicks off when Jackie, newly out of prison for dealing drugs, discovers a man’s hat in the loft he shares with the coke-sniffing, beautiful Veronica. Immediately suspecting her of having been unfaithful, he tears into her verbally. She fights back just as loudly and profanely, denying that she cheated on him. Shaken to the core, fearing that he’s about to fall off the wagon, he rushes off to see Ralph D., who counsels him with “acceptance” quotes from the AA handbook. But Jackie’s anger and jealousy get the better of him and he goes back home, finds his pistol and shoots the hell out of the hat, then goes after the “expletive” who wore it. This impulsive, self-destructive act sets off a series of confrontations, revelations, and betrayals that ultimately destroy the bonds of friendship and love that have tenuously held these people together. The tragicomic nature of Guirgis’s play makes severe demands on its actors, who must be able to find the laughter and tears in the text in equal amounts. Fortunately, Gifford’s cast is up to the challenge and that’s why this production comes off as superbly as it does.
