RIO

I saw the new production of RIO at Dream Theatre last night. I saw an earlier production, years ago, which I also remember enjoying. It was so long ago that I didn't remember exactly where the story was going, so I was kept in suspense.

I thought this reviewer summarized the evening aptly:

With just a cast of four, it grips and captures a range of emotions for audiences who come face to face with the twisted mind of a serial killer.

The RIO of the title is the Rio Grande, and the play is authentically Texan in its feel. The serial murderer is "getting away with it" partly because the victims are illegal immigrants, and neither the Texas government nor the Mexican government really seems to care much about illegal immigrants.

Actually, one man does care, a Mexican Federal officer, who is determined to bring the murderer to justice.

The play's moral center is Mary Graves, an abused woman who, by conventional lights, has bad judgment when it comes to choosing men. Mary is played very sympathetically by Nicole Roberts.

Texan in its feel,
at times a bit surreal,
with karaoke song,
RIO rolls along
into a twisted mind,
half killer but half kind.

UPDATE: A big thank you to Deb Ross for suggesting I untangle my original sentence about Mary Graves.

There was way too much room
to play "Which Phrase Modifies Whom?"