Super size me
Minerva’s family is a hotbed of appetites. For Minerva, it’s Sno Balls and pork rinds. For Alice, it’s men. Minerva’s husband gorges on sports, and Alice’s latest flame is obsessed with being a cop. Funny thing, though, as Minerva outgrows her clothes, she outsizes her life too. Director Tracy Young brings her maverick energy to this surreal and surprising comedy. Life is a carnal and spiritual banquet, and Alfaro’s new work takes a big, yummy bite out of it. (Strong language, mature themes)
Check out interviews with the playwright and director under the Learn More tab.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner photo: Sandra Marquez as Minerva.
Artistic Team/Cast
Director
Scenic Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Sound Designer
Dramaturg
Voice and Text Director
Cast List
Al
Officer Fernandez
Minerva
Alice
* Member of Actors' Equity Association
Watch interviews with playwright Luis Alfaro:
About the play (2:38)
Characters and themes (3:38)
Language and scene titles (4:08)
Watch interviews with director Tracy Young:
The Rauch/Alfaro connection (1:26)
Thoughts on the play (2:37)
Early thoughts on the production(1:18)
Play Synopsis
Eating. All day, every day.
That’s how Minerva fills herself up in a culture in which addictions and obsessions—food, shopping, sex, etc.—are part of the societal malaise.
Minerva is a Sno-Ball lover and the refrigerator is her captor. No matter how often she goes to the gym, and no matter what else she does, Minerva just gets fatter and fatter. Her husband, Al, loves her anyway, even when she gets so big that intimacy becomes a challenge for them.
Minerva has two children. She also mothers her couch-potato, sports-obsessive husband and her reckless younger sister, Alice. Minerva feels tethered to her responsibilities of taking care of this needy family.
Alice, who has had more lovers than she can count, gets threatened with a traffic ticket by Officer Federico Fernandez after she hits a dog and drives up on a curb. Their meeting strikes erotic sparks. Alice and Officer Fernandez’s new relationship has potential—if they can get over their fear of commitment.
Minerva has a Chinese friend, Mee Chee, who she met at a fat farm and who is even larger than she is. They write letters to each other. Mee Chee doesn’t say much, but Minerva finds her comforting, nevertheless. “No one understands me here,” she confides. “It’s like I have gone away. Disappeared.”
Minerva continues to balloon, until she is unable to buy clothes or fit into a restaurant booth. As her life changes, she embarks on a journey—a kind of surreal makeover. She begins to see her life and her family from a whole new perspective. And as she changes, so too do the people she loves.
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner photo: Sandra Marquez as Minerva.