Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Festival de Teatro Experimental

submitted by Jake Witlin

For those of you in and around Ecuador for the next few weeks, make sure not to miss the 11th annual FITE (festival de international theatro experimental). I had the great pleasure of taking in two shows, of which I can highly recommend both.

First, the street performers David Berga, Ferran Aixalà, Oriol Aubets, Jordi Huete, Jaume Jové, all from Spain, delight with an outdoor show of mime, mimickry and general merrymaking in EFS (¨Encara Farem Salat¨). Set against the backdrop of a funeral, the procession starts somber enough, as the four wiry actors carry a coffin thru Mariscal Foch, stopping in front of several coffee shops, where a crowd quickly gathers. Over the course of the next hour, we are taken on a humorous ride of pratfalls and wonderful mime as they try desperately to find the missing body!

The second, and more traditional show, comes from Uruguay, and was a truly unique experience. Josep Pere Peyró´s ¨Una Lluvia Irlandesa¨ is a touching and poetic look inside the psychologies of a young woman seeking to let go of a love, and the man who continually psychoanalyzes her, remarking that without feeling, there is no where else to go. Taking place inside of the hip and happening bar Pobre Diablo, the actors comfortably navigated the mess of tables and chairs, to leave the audience with a sense of wonder and awe as we voyeuristically witness the birth, then death of love without emotion. Underscored with a haunting score, it is not to be missed. Click here for more information.

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