EMPANADA LOCA at Labyrinth is a CUTUP of SWEENY TODD

The gruesome play about a woman whose life spirals downward with strewn corpses cooked into empanadas fails to deliver a palataple play.  The 1 act dark drama is 1 long, drawn out monologue starring Daphne Rubin-Vega as Delores.  Rubin-Vegas has a fierce & vulnerable presence.  She was at the helm to regale us with her life story from her make-shift lodgings several levels beneath NYC's subway tunnels.  Unfortunately, there were too many rats fleeing from this stinking ship. Dolores was  orphaned as a child.  Her mother was a cop who was sho & her doorman dad drowns himself in drink.  Still, she managed to get 2 years of college under belt before she meets & falls heedlessly for Dominic, a dope dealer.  She takes the wrap for a drug bust.  She messed up & refuses to rat him out; cause that's what you do. After serving 13 years & never hearing from him, she returns to their old neighborhood.  Playwright Aaron Mark appropriates the remaining plot from Sweeny Todd with a sordid, story twist.  Trouble is, EMPANADA LOCA becomes butchered & monotonous.  Delores' tale of woe feels like purgatory and I couldn't wait for EMPANADA to end.