In spite of my limited Spanish, the nearly two-hour production kept me totally engaged. This is a creative retelling of the story of Fernando Barba, who developed a system of using the body as a musical instrument.
Among the evening highlights were two young actors playing the part of Barba and Barba’s sister. Young Barba is played by Saul Vega, whose excellent voice and stage presence light up the stage. Barba’s sister Young Tata is played by Samy Araya. She too captures our attention. The two young performers do a lovely duet establishing the strength of their characters’ relationship. Particularly strong is Samy’s ability to show how Tata goes from a healthy, playful child to a handicapped person, needing to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
The lead is capably played by Rafael Esteban Arias Castro, who also produced the production in Costa Rica. The role of Barba’s sister Tata is ably played by Adriana Viquez Garcia.
It is the full ensemble’s body playing and engaging movement that stands out the most. From the very first number to the end, it is the well done musical and dance moments that I loved. Each has its own character and way of moving the story along. One highlight is the waterfall/echo number where the ensemble moves into the audience with only Barba and his romantic interest Dani (played by Betazbeth Rojas) center stage. The echo sounds done by the ensemble create a beautiful, dreamy setting leading Dani to think that Barba will be proposing to her, only to find out he has brought her to this special place to tell her that the Barbatuques have been asked to perform at the Olympics.
Another special ensemble time is when the Barbatuques are about to perform, and a car alarm goes off. Instead of letting this be a distraction, they build it right into their dynamic musical moment, adding another layer of texture.
While the whole ensemble does an excellent job, two members, Amy Lopez and Andy Gomez, stand out for their strong dance ability. Assistant Musical Director Matt Graham both plays the keyboard onstage and at other times joins the ensemble, moving and body playing with them.
Following the curtain call, Rafael welcomed the creative team to join the cast onstage. Carlos Bauzys, the composer and co-book writer, stepped out and ended the evening by directing the audience to become a symphony in the Barba style. It was great fun to follow his direction and so cool to see how everyone around me was enjoying it too. What a wonderful way to end the evening. I do hope that at any performance when Carlos can’t be there, either Matt Graham (the assistant musical director) or Rafael (who plays Barba) will guide the audience in body percussion.
Teatro Espressivo is a wonderful intimate venue. It is nicely sloped so there is not a bad seat in the house.
Barba runs until September 28th. Here’s the link to buy your ticket: https://boleteria.espressivo.cr/eventperformances.asp?evt=476
