Water by the Spoonful

Water by the Spoonful is a performance filled with raw passion and enlightenment. Rather than a happy story of perfect people with minor issues, it is a story of deeply flawed individuals who are trying to navigate their complicated lives. The play highlights how damaged we as humans can be and how other people are just as messed up as we are. Water by the Spoonful is written by Quiara Alegria Hudes, whose work often stems from her own life experiences. Hudes grew up in Philadelphia to Puerto Rican parents and these connections from her life can be seen in this play.

The play centers around the Ortiz family, a Puerto Rican family in a neighborhood in North Philadelphia. Cousins Elliot and Yasmin are the first character introduced. Elliot is a marine back from Iraq, broken in more ways than one and Yasmin is an upbeat teacher who is going through a divorce. We find out that Elliot is concerned for the health of his adoptive mom Ginny, adding on to his stresses. Odessa Ortiz is Elliot’s birth mother and moderator in a chatroom for recovering drug addicts. She offers advice and support for the other members of the chat who are Orangutan, Chutes & Ladders and Fountainhead. She seems to have her life together until her sister (Ginny Ortiz) dies and we see the real her. Her own personal battle with drugs is revealed and it seems like she has lost the progress she has gained for so many years. The characters deal with real life issues that everyday people face. There is no sugarcoating in this play.

The student actors were remarkable in their roles. They didn’t just play their characters well, they embodied them. The actors made me believe that the audience was seeing a portrayal of who they really were. Jorge Valencia was perfect for the role as Elliot. His ability to emote joy, defeat and anger was authentic. Barry Bai was breathtaking as Fountainhead. It was clear that he put all of his emotion and energy into the role. There is a scene where he is yelling at the character Chutes & Ladders but looking at the audience. I felt his rage almost as if I was the target of his character’s anger. There were many scenes like that where the actors were facing the audience. Not looking at us but through us.

The performance was held in a black box theater rather than an auditorium with a stage. The environment allowed the audience to feel right next to the action and almost even apart of it with some scenes involving the actors being physically close to the audience. Watching quick scene changes and prop movements also gave the audience an experience not usually had while watching a stage play.

Water by the Spoonful made me want to examine my own flawed existence. The play shows the true reality of what it means to be a human, which is sometimes disappointment and tragedy.

I could relate to the death of a parent and how it can send an individual into a confused spiral of emotion and regret. Each character had a story of loss or devastation and I appreciated the raw honesty of their reality. For the characters, their spoonful of water is each day that they don’t seek out the temporary fix of drugs or harmful satisfaction. For me, the water represents all of the stress and complications that life can throw at us. Spoonfuls of water can turn to an ocean if you aren’t too careful. You have to take a spoonful of water bit by bit to avoid drowning.