October 15, 2012
By Michael Roberts
Sandra Delgado is stellar as young Alice and later as Ava. She has an innate on stage vulnerability that allows her to have two fantastic character arcs. Nicholas Gamboa commands the second act. He is reactive, sultry and emotionally fraught. Gamboa has great on stage chemistry with Delgado, but even more so with Rom Barkhordar’s older Ardavazt. The rest of the cast also turn in remarkable work, including Levi Holloway as the younger Ardavazt, Carolyn Hoerdemann as Ardavazt’s saintly mother, Michael Salinas as a menacing Turkish soldier and the always stunning Diana Simonzadeh who will make you weep for the love of your own mother with her portrayal as the mortal (and ghostly) matriarchs. Director Lisa Portes trusts her actors immensely as it pays off with very real relationships.