Who knew that Richmond Triangle Players' ICONS: The Lesbian and

Gay History of the World, Vol. 1 could educate and entertain without losing the audience?

     Who knew that Jade Esteban Estrada could deliciously blend talent with purpose across 3000 years? Perhaps most impressively, who knew that a performer could resurrect queer history without succumbing to idle hagiography or a mere series of one-liners?

     Estrada, like the most driven and impressive artists, created a show that is deeply personal and that provides a venue for his best talents to shine forth. In this case, those talents would be anything to do with the stage.

     As a script, "ICONS" smartly weaves history with pop culture -- think Joan of Arc and Jeopardy. The six focal characters run from Sappho to Sylvia Rivera . In the process, we do not get a one-note tune about gay identity, but a nuanced portrait of our diversity. Many of the facts of this history are already familiar to us. What we gain is an appreciation for the possibilities of psyches that we can only speculate about rather than ever finally know.

     Sappho is sensuous: "Plato called me the tenth muse." Michelangelo is heretical: "The world is changing. It's not about God anymore." Oscar Wilde is eponymous: "My soul will be lost, but there's so much more to be gained on the wild side." And Gertrude Stein is Jiminy Cricket: "Don't get caught up in this gay activism. Remember, we're all in this together. It's not a gay thing, it's a human thing."

     Often in single-performer shows we can still see the essence of the performer behind the different masks. Estrada, on the other hand, even as you watch the on-stage costume and makeup changes, transforms his being into an array of singularities. The range of his voice straddles low baritone to falsetto. His cadence and tone matches each icon distinctively. Even his body movement, particularly of the limbs, is individualized. These changeovers are themselves mesmerizing.

     As Estrada disrobes and dons a new wardrobe, he remains in the previous character, so that Stein is visibly exhausted by the prospect of slipping into Rivera's impossible heels. But once the wig is on, it's like a page has been turned to a completely different chapter, a new life.

     Timing is essential to all public performance, and Estrada needs no watch to assist him, as he seems to have an inbred atomic clock.

     The rhythm and tone of his singing nearly always please, and he even retains the essence of his characters' voices, most notably when Stein sings.

     All the characters will be familiar to the audience -- Sappho, Michelangelo, Wilde, Stein, Rivera, and Ellen Degeneres -- with the possible exception of Sylvia Rivera. She's the transgendered Rosa Parks whose shoe-as-projectile touched off the Stonewall riots.

     And let me warn you about Sylvia. "ICONS" is an interactive show, from the opening welcome as if we sit in a talk-show audience to Estrada's occasional sallies off-stage to work the crowd. But here's a hint: when Sylvia asks you a question, do yourself a favor and answer. Immediately.

     Like all Richmond Triangle Players' shows at Fielden's, the venue is intimate and warm. John Knapp's simply designed set and black-white color scheme nevertheless communicate a sense of richness in the draped fabrics while his experienced lighting nicely colors emotion and purpose in the show. However, a spot on Estrada during the audience walk-throughs would heighten the effectiveness of those bits. The diverse costumes by Aliza effectively accentuate the characters' personalities.

     "ICONS" marks the close of RTP's season, and it's perhaps the best run of the year. Catch this show now because Estrada will debut volume two of the "ICONS" series in the fall.

    

©2004 Gay Richmond