by Abel M. Salas Recently staged at Casa 0101, A Cat Named Mercy is not always an easy production to watch. The play, a newly penned drama by Josefina López, written in her signature cine-teatro form, brings us to the brink, literally, of death and beyond. It is no small feat. Staged with aplomb and a veteran director’s subtle hand by Hector Rodriguez, the two-act show is laden with heavy, contemporary issues. Elder care, immigration, undocumented and uninsured elders, the denial of health insurance to those with pre-existing conditions, assisted suicide, and sexual abuse in the home are all addressed with a keen sense of wit and theatricality, that zig zags through a maze of troubling, sometimes hard-to-stomach and always hard-hitting material. In an ironic twist on the play’s title, López offers no quarter or mercy, but she is never so completely heavy-handed that it becomes unbearable. The drama unfolds with beauty and sadness, with bold truths and implacable hope. At

Medford St. Studios, home to Brooklyn & Boyle , Factory Tattoo artist/inkslinger Luis "Chango" Huffington , artist/inkslinger Erick "Scud" Brenes, fine artist Richard Valdes, the Visions Crew (LAs underground graf stars) and Sierra Leone-reared Sheku Kowai, welcomes you to our first-ever open house. The open house will feature a special limited edition print release and signing of "Night Fall on Brooklyn" by Brooklyn & Boyle February cover artist Michael Rascón. A special spoken word blessing/offering will be delivered by Francisco Escamilla AKA The Bus Stop Prophet Pre-order/reserve your 20" x 26" fine art Rascón print by emailing brookynandboyle@gmail.com for pricing and information. Only 100 signed and numbered prints will be released. Come celebrate the forgotten corner of Boyle Heights with wall-writers, word-smiths and ink-slingers. And join us as well as we applaud artist Fernando Barragan , who h