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 Eliana Lopez's "Cuál es el Escándalo?" ("What is the Scandal?")
revisits scenes from the former Venezuelan soap opera actress's
life, including when she met Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, then a
supervisor in the Californian city.
"This is not a documentary," Lopez told the audience at the Mission
Cultural Center for the Latino Arts. "This is a fictionalization of
six of the hardest months of my life."
Mirkarimi was not in attendance. He was charged with misdemeanor
domestic violence and child endangerment just five days after he
became sheriff, after a New Year's Eve quarrel with Lopez turned
violent.
 A neighbor recorded a cellphone video the day after the argument
showing a tearful Lopez displaying a bruised arm and saying her
husband grabbed her.
Lopez refused to testify against Mirkarimi in court and supported
him in front of a city ethics panel. Mirkarimi, a co-founder of
California's Green Party, struck a deal to plead guilty to a lesser
charge and was sentenced to a day in jail and three years of
probation.
Mirkarimi was suspended by Mayor Ed Lee but ultimately reinstated.
Mirkarimi faces re-election in the fall.
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The hour long performance mixed playful takes on her husband and
family with scorn for the neighbor whose video resulted in
Mirkarimi’s arrest and jibes at a bowing, mustachioed "Mr. Lie."
Lopez was asked in an audience question-and-answer session whether
her Mr. Lie character was intended to represent Lee. She said the
character was a composite of San Francisco politicians without
naming any.
Lopez will perform the play six times over its two week run.
(Editing by Curtis Skinner and Katharine Houreld)
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