[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Dolores, written by Edward Allan Baker and directed by Stephanie Feury, at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2025.
Dolores is set in 1986, Providence, Rhode Island, in the basement/laundry room of Sandra. Her sister, Dolores, is hiding out from her violent boyfriend and is discovered there by Sandra when she comes down to check on her laundry and enjoy a few hours of peace while her husband spends time with their three kids. Playwright Edward Allan Baker has set most of his stories in this working-class town, revolving the action around what matters most to them – family, financial struggles, secrets and lies. But actually, isn’t that what matters most to all of us? So it’s not surprising that we are immediately drawn into this beautifully poignant story.
As the play opens, Sandra desperately tries to get her sister Dolores to leave before anyone gets home. But as the story unfolds, we learn more and more about these funny, tough and utterly believable sisters. What pushes them apart, what draws them together, and why Dolores has chosen Sandra’s house to hide out in, rather than either of her other two sisters. Dolores is the eldest, and the closest to Sandra. They shared a room growing up and were once thick as thieves. But over the years they have grown distant, something Dolores lays defiantly at Sandra’s door. But there is so much about Dolores’s childhood that Sandra doesn’t know. Dark secrets. Things that might well be the key to why Dolores ricochets from one demented boyfriend to another, with all the bruises to prove the impact.
They struggle to connect. Sandra resisting her sister’s pleas for safety…this is hardly the first time Dolores has been at her door and probably won’t be the last. But what begins as anger and resentment from Sandra at being pulled into this seemingly endless cycle of abuse evolves into understanding and compassion. Dolores herself is not the convincing factor in this change; she is combative and clearly coming down off something and definitely hung over, even though it is very early in the day. It is Sandra who does the adapting. Sandra, who sees her sister a little clearer than before, and Sandra who gives her the refuge she so dearly needs.
This is the arc of the play. From tough love to compassion. From self preservation to realising that part of that preservation comes not at the cost of yourself in the service of others, but because of it. I saw something the Dalai Lama said the other day when asked how to deal with anxiety. He advised us all to embrace altruism. Every day, without fail. To practice this and with each act of compassion, we would find peace. Perhaps that is what Sandra finally recognised in herself. That compassion for her sister instead of rejection was an act of self love also. It would help her find peace in her own stressful and sometimes violent life. Compassion can be a mirror if we let it.
What can I say about these performances? Impeccable, effortlessly believable? Although a great deal of effort and work had clearly gone into these two very fine performances. They inhabit their roles beautifully, not performances at all. They became these characters and we could feel Dolores sweating as she did whatever she could to stay in that basement and Sandra slowly letting go of her anger and her preconceptions of her sister.
I should also mention the superb and feather-like direction from Stephanie Feury. The set was perfection, too, and created this tiny little world for them to inhabit. I could almost smell the dryer sheets. This play is far more than family drama. It’s an intimate unravelling. A subtle insight into two deeply truthful women characters who have complicated lives. Women with regrets and one with the foresight to somehow do something about it. Wonderful wonderful small theatre…
Bravo, Dolores is a truly moving and brilliant piece of theatre!
CAST: Sandra – DeeDee Woche, Dolores -Davonna Dehay.
****
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