Staged at the BCN Studios in Barcelona, Mount Rushmore is inspired by the real story of Monica Hunken, an American performer, writer, and activist, whose theatre is both entertaining and emotionally involving.
The story begins at Mount Rushmore Memorial, an icon of American values of liberty and freedom, and it is centred on Monica’s relationship with her mother: a stern first generation American Polish conservative, who had to raise two kids as a single mother, after her husband died. Her life is the quintessential American story of personal integrity, inner strength, and spiritual values that made her face head-on all the challenges she had to go through. Like all Catholic mothers, she is protective of young Monica, who has grown to be quite different from her: rebellious, anarchic, and contemptuous of authority.
This clash of wills brings the two women to a point of crisis where Monica is unable to communicate with her mother. However, if our political views are shaped by our life experiences, wouldn’t it be possible to change them by changing the memories of our past? Thus, Monica decides to travel back into the 1980s and have her mother meet Iris, a fictional character, who will open new doors to her mother’s view of life.
This ingenious plot is sustained by Monica Hunken’s physical, singing, and theatrical skills that bring rhythm and play to a genre of absurdist comedy theatre full of real references. The audience is taken on an emotional journey through the USA of the 1980s, a country very much different from today’s America. It is the period of Ronald Reagan’s presidency and his victory in the fight against communism, the acme of American power. It is also an age devoid of social media and of real and genuine personal relationships.
As the audience slowly bonds with the personal story of Monica’s mother, we are taken on a slideshow of different emotions: from hilarious comedy moments to deeply poignant personal confessions, from the sadness of personal loss to the joy of renewed hope. It is an emotional rollercoaster also driven by the music of musician and composer Phil Andrews, whose presence on the stage is completely organic and in line with the storyline to become quasi-invisible, melting into the play and at times participating in it as a secondary character.
Mount Rushmore is, overall, an engaging comedy and theatre experience, splendidly acted and with a solid dramaturgy.It touches on a psychological aspect of American contemporary society and politics without being patronising, offering a glimpse of hope for the future as the torch of human experience is passed from one generation to another.
If you want to know more about Monica Hunken you can visit her website: https://www.monicahunken.com/
