Review: Radar LA, "St. Jude" at the Kirk Douglas Theatre

It was a chill Thursday night preview of the self composed one man show St. Jude at the epic Culver City theatre hot spot, The Kirk Douglas Theatre. Knowing next to nothing about the show, I was not sure what to expect from the 70 minute one man show. But, surprisingly, my already slightly low expectations for one man shows as a theatrical genre were generally exceeded. 

Luis Alfaro tells an extremely personal, yet personalized story of his Christian-raised, Hispanic childhood paralleled with the story of his father's painful struggle with a life-threatening disease at St. Jude's Hospital. He does an excellent job of both poking fun at his upbringing and showing respect for many of his family members by commemoration in his stories. People raised in Christian families, whether Catholic or Protestant  will definitely relate, as Luis vividly describes memories of his youth taking place in both. I liked the way his story was laid out in chapters of sorts, highlighting his experiences in different cities in the Southern California region. His energetic, humorous performance shows how much he cares for these people, and his sharing of his sometimes painful memories welcomes the audience to reminisce on some of their own family outbursts, moments and journeys by comparison. 

Even though I found some elements of the production a little weird (like marking the cities on the overhead map he discusses with his own blood, a symbol of his struggle with diabetes) I did enjoy it very much, and Luis seems like the kind of guy who would be totally cool with that response. He has respect for all different beliefs. What he has to say comes from the heart, and I do believe that. His story allows for an entertaining, educational and moving night at the theatre that is a California treat for the theatre community.


St. Jude ran from September 14th to October 6th at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City in rotation with two other one-man shows as part of the Radar LA Theatre Festival.