“Arrowhead‘ looks at love, sex, identity and family through the lens of the LGBTQ community after the unexpected happens in this new work by playwright Catya McMullen.
Photo by Jeff Lorch
Arrowhead is an incredibly well acted play that follows Gen (Amielynn Abellera) who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant while being forced to navigate between her feelings for her soon to be unborn child’s father and her girlfriend (Kathleen Littlefield).
Faced with the turmoil of an unwanted pregnancy, Gen decides to throw an abortion party at her friends lake house, while others ponder their sexuality as they seek to determine who impregnated Gen.
Arrowhead explores the characters coming to terms with their own sexuality and how their fears of being “fully out” the closet hampers their place in society, particularly when you’re a Black woman. The play also delves into the mother of three small children longing for time away for herself while managing her breast pumping schedule for her twins.
Adrián González and Nate Smith
Photo by Jeff Lorch
“Arrowhead explores the question of what happens when what you want sexually conflicts with your feminism, your identity and your community,” says McMullen, who wrote the play while staying in a Lake Arrowhead vacation home that inspired its location. “While this play is in many ways a love letter to queerness, it is not a singularly queer story. My hope is that it will resonate with people of all sexual orientations — that almost everyone can walk into the theater and find at least some small part of themselves reflected in the characters and perspectives. Oh, and laugh. We hope you laugh, too.”
Arrowhead also provides a deeper look into the difference between characters who fully identify as being gay versus those who would describe themselves as “bi” and how their community deciphers the two.
This play provides a thought provoking challenge to the audience to put themselves in the shoes of these characters as they navigate the treacherous journey to self-identity through their sexuality.
Arrowhead is now playing at Atwater Village Theatre, located at 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039, through March 4. For reservations and information, call (323) 380-8843 or go to iamatheatre.com.
