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A play on lies and revelations, for love
The cast of Two Faces One Mirror, a new play about love, lies and reflections centered around a mother-daughter relationship.
Story and photos by Sherry Mazzocchi
Video by Sherry Mazzocchi
Mario Lantigua's play Two Faces One Mirror is about love, lies and reflections that don't reveal the inner self.
The story revolves around a tortured mother-daughter relationship.
The story has several plot twists and a surprise ending.
"I can't give too much away," Lantigua said.
There are some details to share.
The mother in the play is disfigured.
The actress who plays Emily, the mother, wears special effects make-up.
Once, during a rehearsal break, she walked outside in full make up.
"The looks she was getting," Lantigua said, "were like, 'Oh, what happened to her?'"
What actually happens isn't divulged until the final scene.
Lantigua, 33, grew up in Inwood and Washington Heights and now lives along Fordham Road in the Bronx.
He studies business at Touro College and would like to open a restaurant one day.
The play isn't autobiographical, but the idea came to him in high school and he's been crafting it ever since.
The one-night only performance is a benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Lantigua's fiancé has Hodgkin's lymphoma and he wants to raise awareness about the disease.
"We know about breast cancer—the pink ribbon," he said, "but nobody knows about the purple ribbon."
His fiancé is currently in remission.
"The doctors have said this is the easiest cancer to cure," he said. "But it's been coming back for five years, so obviously it's not that easy."
There are symbolic similarities in cancer patients and disfigured people. Both are often shunned and unfairly judged. People afraid to touch cancer patients, he said, because they are mistakenly afraid of getting the disease.
"And that's the same with seeing a disfigured person," he said. "You don't know what happened to that person to be disfigured."
Lantigua doesn't believe disease or disfigurement should be viewed as a burden. Instead, it is something to be embraced for the challenges they inevitably present.
"Instead, some people might say, 'I have got to enjoy my life even more,'" he said.
This is Lantigua's first play.
His cast is a mix of veteran and novice actors. Mike Andrews plays the father. This Hudson Heights resident started his acting career at City College and has long resume of work in TV, film and Off-Off Broadway.
Andrews says his character is similar to fathers of an older generation—men who come home from work, expect food on the table and watch television at night. All of their emotional reserves are soaked up by work, and at the end of the day, they have nothing left over for their family.
Delilah Faye Arcy plays the mother, the play's pivotal character. Her acting career began in grade school and continued through college. This is her first Off-Broadway performance.
The role is a cathartic one. Without spoiling the plot, Arcy said what happens to Emily, the mother, is one of her worst fears. As an actress, she wanted to take up the challenge and see where her emotions would take her.
While the play isn't autobiographical for Lantigua, it resonated with Arcy.
She had similar experiences in her childhood.
"It does kind of play with the mind a little," she said. "It's kind of like this role was meant for me to play."
To hear from the players of Two Faces, One Mirror directly, please visit http://bit.ly/MT_060.
The play will be presented at the Producer's Club, 258 W. 44th St. in Manhattan on Aug. 24th at 7 p.m.
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