(no title can encompass Sarah Jones)

I.A.M.A.P.O.E.T.T.O.O.
is what's on the stage--- a long banner hung in the air, across the stage. when i enter the theatre, my first visit to the berkeley rep, headed for the bathroom, there is bhangra music playing. at the berkeley rep. hmm. my head turns towards the auditorium as my feet carry me to the restroom -- i had caught sight of the sign, 'there will be no intermission' and i just know that i need to go now, but part of me wants to enter the theatre already. mild curiosity stirs. why bhangra? there must be a multi-cultural element, maybe? but the name, sarah jones... hmm. let's see.

as i sit, i'm aware that my body, after a 9 hour work day, is uncomfortable. I have my period. wish i'd had time to go home and shower before this show. i find myself wondering if I'll be able to get comfortable, and, if I'm not, will I be distracted, will I want to go home, will my mind wander and will I wish I hadn't decided to go by myself on a thursday evening to go see this show, about which i have read nothing, as I wanted to come to this with no preconceived notions.

the show starts, before i quite realize. and i'm transfixed, entranced. taken by the actors, it seems, although there is only one woman, Sarah, performing. i see before me so many. from Muhammed Ali (not the one you're thinking of) to Mrs. Levine who reminds me so, so much of the secretary at my dad's office in manhattan, to Juan Jose, who tells of a true Mexican love story that is pure romance and pure tragedy, and yet he tells it, and I find myself shaking myself, trying to see the woman behind all these characters, and then i give in, give in to the reality that while she plays these people, she is Pakistani, Palestinian, Russian, Vietnamese, Jamaican, Haitian, Chinese, even Australian for crying out loud.

I don't want to tell you too much. I probably already have. because I want you to go see it.

i cried when i left the theatre. not because it made me sad.

but because it was Over.

if you want to read a more in depth review and don't mind
knowing some more details before seeing the show, go to http://tinyurl.com/6tmrh