Reviewed by Amalisha HuEck
It's not easy to be bad, but one has to take his life into his hands and do whatever is needed to survive. A Russian Madame tells all!
Born in Moskow, Russia to a single mother, never met her dad, who would beat her with a shoe, because she had to work hard to feed and take care of her, the kid was the last thing she wanted. One day her mama said, 'Let's go and get you a little brother or sister, so you will not be alone.' They went to an orphanage and while she was looking to pick an orphan, her mama disappeared, leaving her there. The place was absolutely filthy and packed with kids who had also been dropped off there. At wintertime the heating would not work, it was absolutely freezing. And the winters in Moskow are brutal. At summertime, it was unbearably hot, and the place smelled like pee. When a child reaches sixteen or seventeen years of age, he/she graduates from it and as a reward, he/she is kicked out to find his/her way. And to survive a young innocent girl is a subject to anything.
Produced by Soaring Solo Studios and Jessica Lynn Johnson, Venessa Verdugo's play is based on true events that took place in the 1990's during the tumultuous time in world and local history. Venessa comes out wearing LA County jail jumpsuit and tells the story of Russian Madame Tetyana Komisaruk who was found guilty of the crimes of human trafficking and prostitution by the jury (the audience), and arrested for getting the girls/merchandise from Russia to Mexico and then to Los Angeles or San Diego.
Venessa beautifully embodied the character of Tatyana in Hooligani, it felt like - she was telling her own story. The play is only 30 minutes long at the present time, but her vision is to dig deeper into the issue and make it much longer. It is not easy to portray a character who is 'bad,' but Vanessa wrote and put the play together, and through it all did a great job.
Jannica Olin took care of the graphic design and Phillip Sokolov for publicity.
The play was Upstairs @ El Centro (Main Space), 11038 North El Centro Ave., with three performances during the Fringe Festival. It ran on Saturday, June 7 at 12:45 pm; Friday, June 13 at 5:00 pm; and Wednesday, June 25 at 9:00 pm.
www.hollywoodfringe.org/12186