The hour-long “wonderful Advent tale of a father and daughter, Baba Yaga, a rooster with a snake’s tail, two spa salons, a holiday gathering, a severed umbilical cord and a talent that fills in but drains” (from the show The beautiful darkness annotations), is made in the aesthetics of a school play: the fabulous scenery and some good characters are cut out of cardboard and painted in a naive manner, paper snowflakes swirl in the air blower, and the two main characters cry tears of shredded paper that run away like white mice.
The principle of images
Two worlds are visible on the playing field of the Riga Circus. One – in the foreground – could be called relatively realistic – a dark and empty stage with a couple of chairs. The other one, settled in a kind of niche in the bottom wall of the playground, is colorful, with the aforementioned painted decorations and two-dimensional cardboard characters. The decorations were created by the Quadrifronians themselves, as in a proper school performance. The principle of the pictures, as well as the make-up of the main characters with pale faces and rosy cheeks, evokes associations with the square puppet theaters popular in Eastern Europe (and beyond) from the 15th to the 20th century in the style of lubok or lubu pictures.
This stylization is highlighted by the marionette-like movements of the two main characters – Jānis Kroņas Intara and Anna Ulberta Laura – in the beginning of the performance, but this specific type of movement disappears during the performance. The production also features two storytellers dressed in black cloths that blend in with the empty stage – Ance Strazda, she is also the author of the tale, and Āris Matesovičs. The authors of the show have come up with an attractive move – often Jānis Kronis and Anna Ulberte deliver the remarks, while Ance Strazda and Āris Matesovičs deliver their direct speech. It helps to keep the spirit of the game. However, some episodes, such as the story of Memi and the chickens, feel a bit hung up, although nice. Intara’s attempt to make the toad hatch the mythological animal kalcatrix alone is worth something.
Bull, bull
The most important and touching thing in the show is the relationship between the two closest people endowed with similar “magical” abilities – father and daughter. Laura was born to Intar at the age of 13, maybe that’s why his father’s instinct doesn’t work as it should, on the other hand, who hasn’t said things to loved ones that sound unforgivable from the outside, but which tend to be swallowed and lived on. The “magic” of father and daughter in this relationship is necessary to emphasize the extreme popularity of them and the spa salons they both own, from which both fall into sadness, depression and loneliness. In solitude, where even Intara’s dog and Laura’s cat turn away from their owners.
Laura’s conversation with the prop is poignant and funny at the same time Do you sell a water bottle that responds to the girl’s lines with an expressive “boo, boo”. The theme of parent-child relationships is a target that cannot be missed, and in Beautiful Darkness, in a simple and demonstrable way, misunderstandings, each person’s selfishness and reluctance to take the time to delve into what the other has to say coexist with love and a great attraction for their closest person.
One can only admire the skill of Klāvas Meļļ and the author of the text, Ances Strazdas, to incorporate these delicate things into a seemingly simple story and seemingly simple actions of the actors. Jāņa Kroņa Intars evolves before our eyes from a small, curious boy to a successful businessman. Anna Ulberte, not being a professional actress (everyday she is Quadrifron producer), convincingly embodies such pleasant qualities as personality brightness, clarity and girlish simplicity. There is even a feeling that this role was written especially for her, taking into account specific human qualities.
The task of Ances Strazdas and Áras Matesovičs in the play is supposedly simpler – to tell about what is happening. However, as I mentioned, they also speak the lines of the main characters, change the scenery and also voice Baba Yaga and Intara’s mother Memi, they are like puppeteers who move everything that happens. They are interesting to look at even when they are seemingly doing nothing but sitting silently.
What is this beauty
The most interesting riddle to be mentioned in connection with the show is – what is this “beauty” that Intars and Laura are able to teleport others to at any moment, what is this “magic” of theirs. It is described in the play as follows: “The air smells like air and nothing else. There is no wind. Great, great snowflakes fall on my shoulders. I see the sun and the moon descending on the hillside by a little hut, countless hosts of angels, constellations and all the heavenly bodies flocks. Gingerbread men, beasts, gnomes, fairies and nymphs are also going there. A man with a beard definitely glued on is also hurrying there. Mary is carrying the little baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. The cricket is singing a song. They are all dressed in white, clean cloths. They come to a festive gathering. They have incense, gold and myrrh in their hands. The gatekeeper opens the door of the hut. It is Christmas.” Considering that Laura confesses that she does not believe in God, it must be allowed that anyone who, thanks to the magical poke of a finger in the navel or in the mouth, ends up in this absolutely beautiful place, is something else.
The show is suitable for audiences between the ages of five and 105. The ending is very touching, which is at the same time fabulous and very real, because it happens like in life – children say goodbye to their parents.
The beautiful darkness
in the Riga circus on the 30th, 31st I, 1.II at 19
Tickets Ticket paradises EUR 22 in the network
2024-01-13 15:30:46
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