by Marvin Ramírez
There isn’t a better story than the one inspired and written by and from one’s own experiences, right?
And that is the case of “What is the Scandal?,” a one-woman piece spoken and acted by Eliana López, a Venezuelan actress who, along with her family, became victims of those who claim to help victims of domestic violence, but instead they ultimately victimize the victims they propose to protect. The show, written by Eliana’s brother Alfonzo López, premiered on Thursday, May 27, at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in a sold-out event.
For those who may not remember the odyssey or, we should say, the nightmare, that this family, Eliana López, her husband Ross Mirkarimi and their 6-year-old son, Theo, endured for more than six months at the hands of a political machine whose real aim, according to many, was to depose the rightfully-elected Sheriff of San Francisco from office. This is the story that the alleged Machine, lead by the San Francisco Mayor, tried to cover up, according Eliana and her thousands of followers in the City by the Bay who supported her husband and her family during the ordeal.
Eliana, through her talented acting and her brother’s writing skills, very cleverly and with firm determination to have her side of the story told, brings the events that shook San Francisco politics, back to the attention of the public in the monoplay “What is the Scandal?” And it is election time when her husband Sheriff position will be up for re-election.
She brings the 2012 events that occurred prior to the trial, during the trial and post trial, playing a dozen different characters, including the impersonation of the man who became the forefront political enemy of her husband, current Mayor Ed Lee, as “Mr. Lie.” But of course, the Eliana’s team will deny this assertion.
In the monologue, the Award-winning film, theater, and television actress, “Eliana López takes the audience through the adventures of her youth in her native Venezuela, the culture shock she experienced in moving to the United States, her love story with an elected official whom she marries and with whom she starts a family, and the unexpected twists in their lives as a result of a family quarrel.
“She decided in 2014 to tell her story and to do something that would allow her to heal and forgive. The medium that she knows best is theater, so in collaboration with her brother Alfonso Lopez, they wrote the script for this play. Their goal is to show to the community the human side of the ‘scandal,’” said an attendee at the show.
“The work that Alfonzo and Eliana have done in these moments, especially in San Francisco, is very brave and an important one. The play raised themes that are still very hot, but in my opinion, it is good to do this in the theater. I loved her performance, it was something intelligent and there was intelligence and delight in these scenes,” said Carlos Barón, former professor of theater San Francisco at San Francisco State University, in an interview.
Said Steven T. Jones former SF Bay Guardian writer: “The play highlights the hypocrisy of those who claimed to be acting to protect and help her — particularly the overly friendly neighbor, Ivory Madison, who betrayed Lopez’s trust and called the cops; and Mayor Lee, who overreached on his accusations against Mirkarimi before even launching an investigation and without ever trying to talk to López — which resulted in causing real damage to her and her family.”
From Nancy Chárraga: “Everybody who enjoys politics should come watch the play, to see that Eliana was able to transform something so nasty and vicious into something so creative, because energy cannot be destroyed, only transformed, and this is what Eliana really did.
As a journalist who covered Ross Mirkarimi’s trial, I found that this monologue narrated by Eliana, reflects much of the real story that I witnessed first-hand and followed at San Francisco City Hall and in the media at the time. This is a must-see show that no one should miss, especially San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and those who never gave Eliana Lopez a chance to tell her side of the story.
The show can be viewed on these dates: Week 1: Fri May 29–Sat May 30, 8 p.m., Sun May 31, 6 p.m., Week 2: Fri June 5, Sat June 6, 8 p.m., Sun June 7, 6 p.m. At the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 2868 Mission Street, San Francisco. Tickets: $20 Box Office: http://www.missionculturalcenter.org/events.htmlhttp://www.missionculturalcenter.org/events.html or call 415.643.2785
More Information: http://www.elianalopez.net/http://www.elianalopez.net.
