Spring 2019, audiobook :

1 of my 2 free audible books for Februay. Not amazing, but not terrible. I am still grateful I listened to it, for the same reason that I agreed with the synopsis and the some of the ending lines: because we are not, as an American people, taught how to deal with 'the hard stuff' such as watching our parents die and how to handle the slow, unspooling of death and the cost of it, the glory and the utter tragedy. ( )

This Audible Original is exceptionally well done about caring for parents during their last days. Powerful story and performance. Highly recommended ( )

Virtuoso solo performance memoir
Review of the Audible Studios 2019 audiobook edition of Melinda Lopez' play "Mala" (2017)

And my mother is screaming "¡No! ¡Que no! ¡Que no me voy! ¡Tú eres Mala!"

'Mala' means 'bad.' Not that you have done something bad, but that you are, in your core, bad.

Although the title and the early anecdote snippet that uses it might give the impression that a gloomy downer experience is to be expected, Melinda Lopez' Mala is ultimately a cathartic immersion in the experience of care-giving for elderly family. The one-woman solo character is herself named "Mala" and that brings with it the entire guilt-ridden rollercoaster that is the process that many will go through with senior care, where every crucial decision feels like it is a point of no return. This can range from convincing the senior to agree to accept additional care in the home, to convincing them to leave that home forever, and to finally making end-of-life decisions.

Lopez delivers a completely engrossing studio performance here which is only slightly adapted from her 2016 stage play i.e. the opening fragment, where she instructs the recording producer and engineers to leave their cell phones on in case of family emergencies, was a similar offbeat instruction to the theatre audience in the stage play:

So this is the part where you normally turn off your phones. But some of you might have someone you are taking care of, like a kid or an old person, or maybe your dog has diabetes, and every time you have to turn the phone off you panic a little bit and spend the whole time wondering if they fell or died while you were at the theatre.
So let's not turn them off. And if your phone rings, don't be embarrassed, I'll just stop and wait, and you can see if it's an emergency. And if it isn't, then just, you know, give me a thumbs up and I'll keep going.
And if it is an emergency, then, I don't know. I guess we'll just figure it out.

I've quoted that extensively as it gives a good idea of the humorous but at the same time humane spirit that is displayed throughout this work. This may hit too close to home for some and for others it may involve issues that they are still far removed from and may find it difficult to relate to. Lopez deals with it in her own unique way here by building an aural memorial and memento to her parents which can be universally felt by all who can relate to it.

Trivia Note
Although the play builds on Lopez' own Cuban family heritage and makes occasional brief use of (untranslated) Spanish language, the play's performance instructions indicate that it is open to being adapted to other cultural backgrounds and languages as the performer(s) may negotiate with the copyright holders. See more at https://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/single.asp?key=5765 (performance notes are viewable in the pdf preview). ( )