CULTUREMENTAL 2025
CULTUREMENTAL REVIEWS
In The Wilderness Of Demons
Don Nigro’s In the Wilderness of Demons is a haunting, exquisitely precise exploration of memory, guilt, and imagination. Directed by Eduard Tolokonnikov, it follows Nina, a researcher drawn to the home of Oksana, a woman the village has labeled a witch, whose past may or may not hold the key to terrifying local legends. Rooted in Ukrainian folklore and alive with ritual, movement, and psychological tension, In the Wilderness of Demons transforms a simple house into a crucible of secrets, confrontation, and the demons we carry within. Read my thoughts on this chilling new play. HERE! |
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TORERA
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Monet Hurst-Mendoza’s Torera is a bold, visually stunning story of inheritance and defiance. Directed by Tatiana Pandiani, it follows a young woman daring to enter the bullring—and a life the world has forbidden her. Rooted in the power of Mexican culture and alive with myth and movement, Torera transforms the arena into a battle for identity, imagination, and survival. Read my thoughts of this fierce and unforgettable new play. |
O.K.!
Christin Eve Cato’s new play - O.K.! |
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DOMINO EFFECT
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Marco Antonio Rodriguez’s Domino Effect cracks open America’s fragile promises with quiet devastation. A simple game becomes a seismic reckoning, of who belongs, who disappears, and what remains. Directed with electric intimacy by Mino Lora, this is theater that doesn’t just speak to the moment; it haunts you afterward. |
LILITH IN PISCES
Read the review of Lilith in Pisces, Drops in the Vase’s second and final production of their bold first season. The play explores themes of conformity and rebellion through its captivating performances and haunting atmosphere. With a striking sound design, evocative costumes, and a gripping narrative, Lilith in Pisces challenges audiences to confront what is lost when we suppress our true selves to survive, making a powerful statement about identity and defiance. Read all about it: HERE! |
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CULTUREMENTAL ESSAYS
and STORIES
¿Dónde está Pedro mano?In a crumbling convent in Rincón, Puerto Rico, the glamorous and delusional Rosario Soledad waits for her vanished lover, Pedro Mano, who may never have existed. As she bewilders the exasperated nuns with her melodramatic prayers and impossible geography, reality bends into absurdity. When a hapless messenger arrives with an eviction notice, Rosario mistakes it for a sign from heaven. Between laughter and heartbreak, the convent becomes a stage for love, loss, and delusion. |
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TIFFANY'S
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On Living with Tinnitus. An Essay By The Sound Inside
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Theatre Isn’t Dying
It’s Being Murdered:
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On the decision to have all-male seasons at this time in our history: This article argues that such programming is not a neutral artistic choice but a quiet capitulation to authoritarian, anti-DEI pressures reshaping American theatre. Drawing on Wendy Brown’s Undoing the Demos, it reveals how neoliberal forces push theatres to abandon the public good for profitability, erasing marginalized voices in the process. In this climate, neutrality is complicity, and artistic survival without integrity is a form of cultural surrender. |
PROTECT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.
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Our Culture is under siege. The National Endowment for the Arts, the lifeline for rural theaters, Indigenous storytellers, community murals, and so much more. faces total elimination in the 2026 federal budget. This isn’t about saving money; it’s about silencing voices. For less than the cost of a postage stamp per citizen, the NEA sustains the stories that define us, yet powerful forces are working to erase them. Who pays the price? Not the elite, but the marginalized, the towns, artists, and traditions that depend on this funding to survive. This is authoritarianism in slow motion, and it’s happening now. But we can stop it. Here’s how. |
THE REVOLUTION HAS CALLED PLACES
On the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride, Montserrat Mendez considers the shadow of collapsing ideals, where the boot of history presses hard against the throat of hope, Mendez asks: What do we do when the curtain falls not on tyranny, but on us? it's time to start rehearsing for a revolt. A reminder that theater, when it sweats and shouts and refuses to kneel, is the last flickering candle in the dark. The revolution isn’t coming. It’s here. And it demands we pick a side. |
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PULITZER PRIZE SPONSORSHIP 2025
CultureMental proudly sponsors Retro Production's Bettye and the Jockettes Spinning Records at the Holiday Inn for the Pulitzer Prize, highlighting WHER, America’s first all-female radio station, in 1956 Memphis. The play celebrates daring women, led by Bettye, who defy societal norms and challenge a male-dominated industry. With sharp humor, historical authenticity, and a reflection on cultural shifts, it honors trailblazers and embodies resilience, making it a compelling contender for this prestigious award. Read More about it HERE. |
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LUNA LUNA
I visited Luna Luna with two dear friends. Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy was a breathtaking resurrection of a lost artistic wonder, transforming The Shed into a riotous playground of visionary creations from Basquiat, Haring, Dalí, Lichtenstein, and more. Though the exhibition closed on March 16, 2025, its legacy endures—a testament to the power of art to defy time, captivity, and silence. Read all about it HERE! |
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