Review: ‘Trafficking in Broken Hearts’ at Celebration Theatre
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The heft of ‘Trafficking in Broken Hearts’ at Celebration Theatre owes as much to its compassion as to its grit, of which there is plenty. Edwin Sanchez’s searing 1994 three-hander about Times Square hustlers receives an arresting production, perhaps the venue’s strongest offering since ‘Stupid Kids.’
First produced by New York’s Atlantic Theater Company, ‘Trafficking’ charts its fragmented course around 42nd Street in the days before Rudy Giuliani and Disney. It concerns jaded Papo (Ramon Camacho), a streetwise Puerto Rican from the Bronx, on the stroll since his teens. After virginal lawyer Brian (Stephen Twardokus) puts the tentative moves on Papo, ‘Trafficking’ appears to be a roundelay between opportunist and closet case.
Enter pathological Bobby (Elijah Trichon), a 17-year-old runaway from institutionalization and fraternal abuse. Spurred by Sanchez’s pungent, well-observed dialogue, the triangle that evolves is graphic yet artful, often wickedly funny and finally quite moving.
In director Efrain Schunior’s adept hands, ‘Trafficking’ uses stylized naturalism to keep dated aspects at bay, inventive without fussiness. Set designer Marika Stephens gets optimal mileage from her triad of metal frameworks, assisted by Sohail e. Najafi’s surreal lighting, Emarie Kohlmoos’ realistic wardrobe and Michael Cooper’s marvelous sound plot.
All three actors are wonderful. Camacho’s halting technique and emotional focus works like gangbusters for world-weary Papo. Twardokus inhabits repressed Brian to enervated perfection, while Trichon leavens childlike brio with an affecting stillness as Bobby. Their mutual investment drives ‘Trafficking in Broken Hearts.’ In doing so, they cannot help but break ours.
-- David C. Nichols
‘Trafficking in Broken Hearts,’ Celebration Theatre, 7051-B Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends June 14. Adult audiences. $20. (323) 957-1884. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.
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