Road trips never seem to go out of style.  From the myriad adventures of Odysseus, to The Lewis and Clark Expedition, to Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, to the feminine power version of Thelma and Louise there is something about traveling to places far flung to explore the undiscovered countries of our own hearts. Kitchen Dog Theater sets out West in their tight and touching production of Quiara Alegría Hudes’ 26 Miles.

KDT Co-Artistic Director and Administrative Director Tina Parker helms the regional premiere of the mother-daughter drama by Hudes (Tony Award for In the Heights and two-time Pulitzer finalist) with a stellar four person cast on a minimal, yet effective set (design by the amazing Cindy Ernst) with a knack for eliciting knockout performances and teasing out the best parts of an already top-notch script.

It’s Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs circa 1986, and tenth grader Olivia (third-year Booker T. Washington High School student Allie Donnelly in her professional acting debut) is the “bastard” daughter of Cuban mother Beatriz (KDT Artistic Company Member Christina Vela) and Jewish father Aaron (Ashley Wood, who was so good in Theatre Three’s See What I Wanna See).  At the age of six, angst-y and introspective, Olivia chose to live with her father, a decision that still haunts the larger-than-life Beatriz who suffers a troubled marriage with Manuel (KDT Co-Artistic Director Christopher Carlos), a philandering conspiracy theory fanatic.

Olivia longs to experience things that she has only read about, like live buffalo thundering across the plains ofWyoming. She lives in a house in which she and her father are afraid of stepmom Deborah and her many draconian rules (do not talk about Beatriz, the third floor is off-limits, etc.). A call to her mother in the middle of the night sparks her retrieval and subsequent setting off for parts unknown.

The domestic reconciliation on wheels between these two does not come easy. Painful accusations and revelations are framed by antique store forays, buying tamales in the mountains of South Dakota from a blind man (Carlos, in a beautiful bit part), driving and life lessons, and, yes, witnessing a thundering herd of Buffalo in Wyoming.  Geography plays a big part in this play: Olivia is captivated by explorers and geology (families are like plate tectonics trying to find stability through conflict), which makes Ernst’s mountainous set of tan and brown levels as an ever-present reminder even more poignant. Sound, by John M. Flores, is clarion-like and integrates seamlessly with the superb original music by Max Hartman.

Vela’s “crazy Cuban bitch” of a mother is a force of outspoken, passionate nature. Her fierce love for Olivia and need to protect, possess, and educate her is a pleasure to witness. Wood as her first love from Woodstock plays a lost and beaten man with impressive pathos. Donnelly’s Olivia is the real surprise here. The fact that she really is a teenager takes nothing away from her portrayal of this fragile being of formidable poetic and philosophic depths. Too often teens playing teens can come often as outlandish caricatures or oddly hollow.  Donnelly’s authenticity and grace in this part is a refreshing delight. Here’s to hoping we see more of her onstage in the future.

Photo: Matt Mrozek