Dragon Cycle: Dragon Mama

Last week Sara Porkalob returned to American Repertory Theater's Oberon to reacquaint Boston audiences with her family, most notabably her grandmother Maria Sr., in her one person show, "Dragon Lady."

This week as part of the development of her Dragon Cycle, she continues her deep dive in to her family history with the world premiere of "Dragon Mama" which focuses on Maria's eldest daughter and Sara's mother, Maria Jr.

It is a darker and more emotionally intimate work, but it still contains the same undercurrent of hope that is a special skill of Ms. Porkalob. The structure is more linear, but once again she portrays multiple characters with ease and brings the house down with her spectacular singing.

"Dragon Mama" picks up during one of the more harrowing moments in "Dragon Lady" where Maria Sr. has disappeared leaving her teenage daughter to care for her four younger siblings. From this point we then follow Maria Jr. through her adolescence in to her twenties.

Being the daughter of a Filipina gangster, it is no surprise that Junior quickly becomes a willful and resourceful young woman. Her younger sister soon dubs her "the new mommy" as she takes on greater and greater responsibilities. Of course, any child given that much responsibility is going to want to rebel. And rebel she does.

As with many neglected kids looking for love and acceptance, she begins to hang out with a slightly older girl that moves in to the neighborhood and finds escape in drugs, alcohol, and promiscuity. There is nothing terribly new or unique about her rebellion, but there is something about the way Porkalob portrays it that maintains a freshness which is totally engrossing.

The story leads us through the birth of Sara and then leaving Sara to move to Alaska. It's another one of those shocking life choices that her family seems to have mastered. Yet, as with anything anyone does, we soon learn there are extenuating circumstances.

It is these circumstances that bring an undeniable humanity to Porkalob's work. In the interest of their children, both her grandmother and mother made choices that most would find unthinkable. But how can you judge anyone's choices when you understand their reasons? And it is the series of events caused by these decisions that leads Maria Jr to finally find love.

Each of these two works can easily stand alone, but seeing them both adds a texture and a depth of understanding that seems to bring you a little closer to Sara – or at least to what she is willing to expose.

The current run of these works is brief, but opening night, Ms. Porkalob announced that A.R.T. has already commissioned the third work in her cycle, "Dragon Baby." Hopefully, the first two will be brought back with that premiere so Boston can experience the Dragon Cycle in its entirety.

"Dragon Mama" is performed in repertory with "Dragon Lady" through April 7 at Oberon, 2 Arrow Street, Cambridge, MA. For more information, visit the American Repertory Theater website.