Life’s Diminishment in ‘The Have-Little’

Set in a South Bronx slum in the mid-1970s, Migdalia Cruz’s “The Have-Little,” at the Strasberg Center’s Marilyn Monroe Theatre, is an unsettling reminder that, for many, poverty is destiny. Just hanging onto the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder is an exhausting endeavor. Any upward momentum requires determination, smarts and a supportive family--or a combination of the three.

Fifteen-year-old Lillian Rivera (America Ferrera), protagonist of the play, just doesn’t have the emotional muscularity to rise above her circumstances. A so-so student, Lillian lives with her argumentative mother, Carmen (Maricela Ochoa), in a shabby tenement apartment. Lillian’s alcoholic father, Jose (sympathetic Julian Scott Urena), is a sad case, and her best friend, Michi (refreshingly offbeat Elisa Bocanegra), is a short-timer itching to escape to a better life.

Desperate for human connection, Lillian takes up with a neighborhood junkie who gets her pregnant and dies of an overdose in short order.

Reverses continue apace, as Lillian becomes more and more firmly stuck in her fast-congealing life.

Cruz’s unvarnished drama commences with raw power but eventually sags into excess. Having Lillian “talk” to her diary is a tired device, especially when Jose discovers the book--an occasion for tear-jerking of the most manipulative order. And the scenes following Carmen’s death seem protracted and anticlimactic--a full symphony when all that is really needed is a summary coda.

Veteran director Diane Rodriguez occasionally errs on the side of sentiment, overplaying scenes that could have used more emotional restraint.

Still, Ferrera, who won a special acting prize at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, is touching and genuine, and the raspy-voiced Ochoa shines as a mother whose hurtful outbursts eclipse the tenderness she cannot express.

Superb design elements--Akeime Mitterlehner’s low-rent set, Steven N. Lee’s scruffy costumes, Drew Dalzell’s echoing sound and Rand Ryan’s neon-tinged lighting--illustrate the marginal condition of these flawed but valiant have-littles.

“The Have-Little,” Marilyn Monroe Theater at the Lee Strasberg Creative Center, 7936 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends April 14. $17-$19. (323) 650-7777. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.