The New York Times: April 17, 2007 THEATER REVIEW | 'WAXING WEST' http://theater2.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/theater/reviews/17waxi.html
Go West, Young Woman (Ceausescu Ghosts Too) By <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/wilborn_hampto n/index.html?inline=nyt-per> Wilborn Hampton It's been more than 17 years since Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were executed, freeing Romania from one of Communism's most brutal dictatorships. But evil casts a long shadow, and the terror is not simply eliminated by a firing squad. "Waxing West," Saviana Stanescu's intriguing and entertaining new play at La MaMa E.T.C., is an attempt at exorcism, and it is perhaps a hopeful sign that the Ceausescus are ridiculed here as bloodthirsty clowns. Romania's search for a national identity after the overthrow of the Ceausescus is mirrored in the story of Daniela, who a decade later is trying to decide her own future. A benefactor has invited Daniela to the United States to marry her son, Charlie, a computer technician with few social skills. Although reluctant to follow the advice of her mother, Daniela finally accepts the offer. "Maybe in America," she says with hope, "it is just a little bit like the movies." The rest of "Waxing West" moves back and forth between Bucharest and New York over a 17-month period, from April 11, 2000, to Sept. 11, 2001. Surprises, of course, are in store. If Charlie turns out to be rather kinky, his sister, Gloria, may be even kinkier, and Daniela ends up cooking and cleaning for Charlie, who keeps postponing the marriage. But these disappointments are nothing compared with the nightmares that haunt Daniela. The ghosts of the Ceausescus, dressed as vampires in whiteface, keep popping up, singing and dancing and commenting on Daniela's American odyssey while threatening her with a variety of tortures. And the date of the play's final scene is not coincidental. Daniela is a free spirit. Certainly she, a sort of Holly Golightly of Bucharest, has foibles of her own, including a tendency toward kleptomania. She reads every self-help book she can find at Barnes & Noble, most of which she steals, and she befriends a Muslim Bosnian war refugee named Uros who was once a college professor and now begs from a wheelchair in Times Square, trying to save enough money to follow in the footsteps of Gilgamesh. Marnye Young is captivating as Daniela, a resilient and resourceful young woman with a twinkle in her eye and a touch of larceny in her heart that are irresistible. Grant Neale and Alexis McGuinness are delightfully malevolent as the Ceausescus. The rest of the eight-member cast, under Benjamin Mosse's brisk direction, are all good, especially Kathryn Kates as Daniela's mother and Dan Shaked as her brother, Elvis. "Waxing West" continues through Sunday at La MaMa E.T.C., 74A East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 475-7710, lamama.org. <http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html> Copyright 2007 <http://www.nytco.com/> The New York Times Company ---------------------------- Vali "Noble blood is an accident of fortune; noble actions are the chief mark of greatness." (Carlo Goldoni) "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix)
