By Jerry Weinstein
In 1982 Columbian-born Gabriel Garcia Marquez received the Nobel Prize for Literature. His haunting fiction, in particular his signature magical realism, brought Latin American literature onto the world stage. The following year he wrote a screenplay based on his novella, The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother. Twenty years on, HERE’s Executive Director Kristin Marting has brought Erendira to life as an ambitious theater piece.

The fable begins as a vision of Erendira’s causes her grandmother’s desert house and worldly possessions to go up in flames. Grandmother demands that she compensate her for the loss and forces her into a life of prostitution. Over the years, Grandmother grows wealthy, for Erendira has become celebrated, as men line the block waiting for a brief moment in her arms. No longer chaste, her sensual appeal lies in her hope for eventual freedom.

ChingValdes-Aran, as Grandmother, anchors this interpretation of Erendira. She is at once majestic and pathetic, commanding and sallow, impervious to harm and blind to the truth. Her performance is a tightrope. She elicits terror, while managing not to overplay the character and veer into camp, allowing Elisa Terrazas to convincingly play Erendira as a desperate naif. As Erendira’s paramour Ulises, Janio Marrero fits the job description for the part- somehow he treads on the wings of an angel. With his tousled raven curls he resembles a Botticelli painting. Although he and Erendira are pure of heart, they quiver at the tyranny of Grandmother, who breathes new life into the word "diabolical."

The sprawling set is a decoupage of dreams. Done up almost as an abandoned attic – with cryptic projections on sailcloth scrims and macabre puppets (Quay Brothers-inspired?) masking the men who violently steal Erendira’s innocence. It is a theatrical canvas, both temporal and everlasting.

Todd Griffin’s spaghetti western compositions are apropos for the affair, while the choreography (including a tango borne of unmet longing), is stark but passionate. When the elements are in synchronicity, the production is a fugue-state spellbinding affair. The strength of the play is in its visual power. At times, the narration is didactic (reminding this reviewer of Rebecca Miller’s Personal Velocity), and seems hidebound, rather than surreal. The director might take Valdes-Aran’s lead and add dissonance and more whimsy into the piece. Where it goes solemn it wanes.

While Harting’s production captures a Marquezian dreamscape, the real pleasure lies in watching Ching Valdes-Aran. She threatens to eclipse all – event the text itself. She IS theater. Erendira is a ultimately a fraught journey of trauma and hope, but it carries the spirit of Garcia Marquez’s tale and gives it shape and form.

ERENDIRA The Sad and Incredible Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Adapted and Directed by Kristin Marting ,with additional text by Ruth Margraff Cast: Ching Valdez-Aran, Elisa Terrazas, Janio Marrero, Alex Endy & Marc Petrosino Set Design: David Evan Morris Puppets: Lake Simons Costume Design: : Nancy Brous Video: Lea Rekow Lighting Design: : Juliet Chia Music : Todd Griffin Running time: : 80 minutes with no intermission HERE, 145 Sixth Avenue (one block below Spring Street, in SoHo) 212/647-0202 2/24/03-3/15/03; Wednesdays–Saturdays at 8:30 PM--$15 Reviewed by Jerry Weinstein based on February 20, 8:30 pm press preview.