TELENOVELA To 31 August.

Edinburgh Fringe.

TELENOVELA
by La Marmita

C Chambers Street (Venue 34): To 31 August 2009
12.30pm.
Runs 1hr 5min No interval.

TICKETS: 0845 260 1234.
www.cthefestival.com
Review: Mark Courtice 24 August.

Confusing glimpse into a different world.

If you don't know anything about the Telenovelas, the afternoon soaps that daily transfix South American viewers, this show is unlikely to add much to your knowledge, which matters because it's hard to get a handle on this Portuguese show without a shared frame of reference.

Bizarre commercials interrupt scenes of domestic and workday life. Repetitious, full of lurking sexuality and power games, the scenes are more dance than theatre. There is no real language barrier as the words are babble rather than vital to understanding.

The performers are great, with technique full of rigorous control, and energy. The gags (physical and verbal) seem to have lost something in translation, however.

On a bare stage with a screen at the back of the stage and only a table and chairs the whole thing has a rather old fashioned air. Who uses a typewriter any more, for instance? Perhaps they do in the telenovelas, but as with so much in this show it’s difficult for us to tell.

Performers: Andrea Gabilondo, Viriato Morais.

Conception/Choreography: Andrea Gabilondo.
Designer: Susanne Roster.
Lighting: Francisco Tavares.
Video: Luis Miguel Sousa.

2009-08-26 14:15:07